Behind The Scenes
by padfootastic
Summary: A look at one of the closest frienships ever seen: that of James and Sirius, Prongs and Padfoot. Two boys who were closer than friends, who were brothers. Series of one shots and drabbles.
1. Kitchen Hunting

_**And I'm back with more James and Sirius :") It's sort of inappropriate, the amount of love I have for these two, but oh well.**_

 _ **This is just going to be a series of one shots/drabbles about our favorite dark haired boys, mostly unrelated, definitely slice of life. This is just a way for me to release all the feels that build up in me after binging on Marauder fanart and fics.**_

 _ **Hope you like it :") You can tell me what you guys want to see, what you liked, didn't like in a review, it takes barely a minute hehe**_

"James, shhh you're being too loud!"

"Me? I'M being too loud when you're the one with the humongous feet?"

"Yes, you. Stop shuffling your feet, for Merlin's sake!"

"And you can keep your voice down as well if you don't want Filch to catch us here."

"I know very well how to whisper James, though I really can't say the same for you. Now, will you move over a bit because half my leg is outside the cloak because your fat ass needs so much space."

"So first it was my voice and now I'm a fat ass? Is there any problem in the world that I'm NOT the cause of?"

"Well, I would have to get back to you on that," Muted snickers could be heard in the deserted corridor, and then a loud smack sound followed by an 'Oof, JAMES!'

Currently, the two First Years were sneaking down a hallway, trying to find the kitchens, They were, after all, growing almost-teens in a castle and would need their nutrition. Never mind the fact that said castle provides them with three meals in a day where you can eat all you want. These two wanted exclusive 24 hour access to food and would leave no stone unturned to get it.

James had needled and begged and pleaded his dad for the location, as he was one of the few to discover it but he had remained steadfast in eating his breakfast, not looking at his son once other than to say 'Hogwarts has excellent pears, son, you must get your fingers on them as soon as you can!' He had given him a weird look and went back to his own breakfast with a pout on his face.

Sirius, on the other hand, had resolved to find the kitchens on his own merit. He had heard his cousins, mainly Bella, complaining at various family meeting about how she's never found the kitchens. This meant that they were nowhere near the Slytherin dorms, which were underground and could have been a possible location for the kitchens. They couldn't be in the towers for obvious reasons so those were ruled out. They were going down to the Hufflepuff common rooms to scope out the vicinity.

"Hey, Sirius?" James suddenly spoke up. Sirius hummed in reply. "If the kitchens are anything like the Common Rooms, don't you think they'd have a password too?"

Sirius cocked his head to the side, thinking, before replying slowly, "I think we should think about that if we ever manage to find the kitchens. No use worrying about a password if we can't even find the general location of it, eh?"

James nodded his acceptance before jumping carefully off the last step, recognizing it as a trick stair that would suck your leg in until a professor rescued you from it. He shuddered, that was the last thing they wanted; a teacher catching them after hours in places they shouldn't even be thinking about creeping about.

They reached the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff Common Room but instead turned to go the other side, wanting to finish that area first. They crept along in an eerily silent corridor, not even seeing any annoying paintings or creaking armors. Suddenly, as they were about to turn back, deciding that it was futile to waste their time here, Sirius jerked his shoulder and pointed at a lone painting on the wall to their right. He turned slightly to see an almost comical painting of a basket of fruit. The various fruits almost seemed like they were staring down at them, as if they were judging the boys' illicit nighttime activities.

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the apples, the grapes, the bananas and the lone pear. His eyes roved over them again as something ticked at his memory. Something about pears and fingers? Curiously, he took a step forward, lifting the Cloak over his head, ignoring Sirius's confused whisper, and stood just before the portrait, his fingers hesitantly going over to the yellow-green pear in the middle. As his outstretched fingers touched the fruit, James feeling incredibly stupid as he did so, in front of his amazed eyes the pear suddenly giggled and twisted, soundlessly, and turned into a shiny brown doorknob. James' eyes opened wide at this and he looked back at Sirius, who had stepped out of the safety of the Cloak as well and looked just as dumbfounded as him.

"Ho-How di-? I-I me-wha?" Sirius couldn't seem to comprehend what just happened. Had it really been that easy, _and that silly,_ to enter the kitchen? James merely shrugged and his fingers firmly grasped the doorknob, opening it and stepping inside. The kitchens were bustling with life, even at the late hour. Tiny little elves were running around carrying high towers of pots and pans in their hands, somehow managing to not drop a single one. More elves, older looking ones, were standing in a straight line near a sink, magically cleaning all the dishes, their hands waving gracefully about.

Sirius came up beside him and his gasp of wonder when he saw the scene before him was something James could relate to. Somehow, the hustle and bustle of the busy kitchen was strangely comforting to the two dark haired boys and as they silently closed the door, and leaned against the wall, they learnt quite a lot about the elves and the kitchens.

In the following years, the kitchens became one of the most frequented places by the Marauders, James and Sirius struck up friendships with most of the elves, and after the initial hesitation, they warmed up quite a bit to the Marauders. Especially James, who was doubly adored by the elves for some strange reason. Sirius always reckoned it was because they could sense the total softy he was under his tough boy exterior, something James vehemently denied but secretly liked.


	2. Wanderlust

_**Aaaaaaand we're back with more James and Sirius! I hope you guys enjoy this little piece :")**_

 _ **Promts used: (phrase) wish upon a star, (word) wanderlust, (emotion) surprise, (word) universe.**_

 _ **I would love you forever if you left a teeny tiny review down below hehe**_

* * *

Sirius was on the Gryffindor Tower, the little nook the Marauders had claimed as their own in First Year a sort of safe haven for him. He took a long drag of the cigarette that he held loosely between his fingers, breathing out deeply as he looked at the smoke travelling through the dark night sky. Suddenly, he heard the panel beside him loosen, finally coming off after a couple attempts and James' smiling face peered out. He suspended the cigarette in mid air, dusted his hands off and offered one to the other boy, heaving slightly as he pulled him up. He sat down on the ledge again and took another drag, silently conjuring another stick for James, who immediately lit it wandlessly, copying Sirius' previous movements.

They sat silently for a long time, long after their snubbed their cigarettes butts and Vanished the remains. The night sky was devoid of any stars, creating a beautiful illusion of serenity and emptiness all entwined together. B _ecause that is what beauty is it not?,_ Sirius thought, _just a mere illusion._

Suddenly, James turned so that he was facing Sirius and placed his right hand on the latter's head, palm down, resisting the urge to fist his hand in the insanely soft locks.

Sirius gave him a weird look and said, slowly, "What do you think you're doing, Prongs?"

James grinned cheekily and replied, "Making a wish!" And proceeded to close his eyes and mumble inaudibly.

Sirius swatted at the large hand weighing down on his head, "And what is my role in that?"

The other boy dodged his attack, but pulled his hand back, "It's a long story, you see. Well, not really long, it's actually pretty short. But that's how most of my interactions with Evans are." He shrugged.

"What does Evans have to do with this?"

"Everything, Padfoot. Everything!" James shuffled forward and continued with an eager expression on his face, "I was trying to ask her on a date, you know I planned to right? I thought since this was the first time in a couple years that I've done this, she might say yes. But no, she refused again." Here his shoulders drooped a little, the eagerness slightly fading, but perking right up when Sirius placed a hand on his forearm and squeezed in silent support, offering him one of those rare smiles of his that were only reserved for him, Remus and Peter, and never failed to make him feel better. He knew better than anyone how much Evans' rejections actually hurt him, and even tried to dissuade him from doing it again and again but well, he couldn't help it. He liked Evans, and if one day, she said yes to him he would make sure she didn't regret it.

With his former eagerness, and a touch of mischief now, he continued, "I said, what could I do so that you'd say yes. She said, ' **go wish upon a star** '. So I did!" He ended with a triumphant look on his face, and looking as if he was ready for any physical attacks he might be subjected to when comprehension dawned on the younger boy. And as soon as it did, a hand came to smack at his face which he easily dodged, laughing while he did.

"Look, Pads. I'm a little desperate here, and I've been waiting for the stars to come out all evening, and when they weren't, in a moment of genius, I remembered I had my own personal star not a metre away!" He ran his hand through his messy hair, the cheeky grin never leaving his lips.

Sirius scowled at him for a moment before conjuring another cigarette and taking long drags from it. Silence enveloped the two boys for the second time that night, their breathing and the puffs coming from the younger boy the only sounds in the otherwise silent sky.

Sirius Vanished the cigarette again, and spoke, his voice coming out slightly raspy, "Did you know how often muggles travel?"

James glanced at him sideways for a second before turning to look at the vast Hogwarts Grounds again, "Not really. Moony's parents are not rich enough to travel a lot, and I've never really talked to others about their travel plans."

Sirius snorted, "Not bloody likely if you're trying to get up their skirts, Prongs."

"Hey, I resent that! You make me sound like some sort of a whore," James protested.

"Aren't you?" Sirius laughed as he leaned back to dodge the punch aimed at him.

"Whatever. Why are you suddenly so interested in how muggles travel?"

"It's less how _muggles_ travel and more the fact that they _travel_ you know?"

"You know you're not making any sense right, Padfoot?" James gave up on watching the empty grounds and just turned sideways to watch Sirius, who made a sound of frustration, slightly tugging at his own hair.

"I mean. How often do we travel? Explore the world? Yeah, families like yours and mine go over to opulent places like Paris or Italy or the Caribbean but how much do we _really_ travel? What about those who're not from Ancient and Noble Houses and don't have vacation homes stashed away in every corner of the **universe**? They're not muggle enough to use their transportation, but they're wizard enough to not be able to, or even want to, mingle properly in all muggle areas. How do they _**see**_ the world?" Sirius' hands were moving everywhere by this point, trying to emphasize his point, his grey eyes lighting up with passion.

James spoke slowly, surprised at the sheer intensity in his friend's voice, "You mean, how does a wizard look at all the places that are predominantly muggle? How does he fit in?"

Siris pointed his finger at it, "YES! Yes, exactly that! We, as a community, are so closed off, so narrow minded, something that is only accentuated by our reluctance and unwillingness to travel. We neglect to see other cultures, other opinions, other ways of living, be it muggle, wizard or creature, and that can only be detrimental to our collective intellectual capacity!" He ended his tiny speech by taking a huge breath to make up for the lack of oxygen.

A little amused at this point, James pointed out, "Basically you're trying to trying to say that you want to travel the world and learn about different communities and look at different places and immerse yourself in their history, aren't you?"

He only got a jerky nod in response, the other boy's cheeks slightly pink due to his earlier outburst.

James forced himself to not laugh, sensing it wouldn't be received well, that he needed to be reassured, not mocked or laughed at, "Well, you know there's a word for that right? You're not weird, or unnatural for being so enthusiastic about this."

Sirius looked up at him with his left eyebrow cocked, a questioning look in his eyes. James moved closer so that he was right beside the other boy, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him in to his chest, feeling him instinctively snuggle up.

" **Wanderlust."**


	3. Just Padfoot now

**This one was a long time coming, really. I'm actually surprised I didn't write it sooner. I hope you guys enjoy it, tell me what you guys thought in a review :) As always, I always welcome constructive criticism, SPaG errors, anything :")**

 **Written for the History of Magic Task 2.**

 **Prompt used: (object) candle**

 **word count: 1184**

Sirius' legs were trembling as he parked his bike on the road. Well, parked wasn't the appropriate word. The way he haphazardly threw it onto the cement was a definite indicator that something was well and truly wrong for he _treasured_ the hulking vehicle he had painstakingly built all through 6th and 7th year. He stepped over the rubble and entered the broken home through what used to be the door. Now it was little more than a hole in the wall.

The inside was dark, all lights smashed, the stink of Dark Magic almost burning his skin. The atmosphere was heavy and stifling and Sirius tugged at the collar of his shirt in a vain effort to release some of the heat that had gathered there. He stepped forward and almost tripped over something.

He looked down to see a bright blue candle in the shape of a broom nestled under his foot and an almost hysterical laugh bubbled out of his mouth at the sight of the object. He had given the candle to James in 6th year as a Christmas Gift after he had ran away. All he had was a few sickles on him, and this was all he could afford. James, being the sentimental prat he was, had immediately thrown aside his clearly expensive gifts from various family members and proclaimed Sirius' gift to be the best one. To this day, he had kept it safe tucked away, and looking at the tiny wax figure, Sirius' laughter turned into dry sobs. He wandlessly lit the candle that had stayed unlit for over 3 years and held it up to eye level.

His stormy grey eyes swept over the living room, barely taking in the surroundings. It was almost ironic how everything _inside_ the room was perfectly fine, as compared to the wreckage outside and, from what little he saw on his way in, upstairs.

His eyes fell on a still body lying just beside the hideous yellow couch- his housewarming gift to the Potters- and it was like everything just... _stopped._

Suddenly, he couldn't feel his heartbeat, and the breath that had just seconds ago been coming out in pants now seemed to vanish without a trace. The trembling in his legs stopped, his quivering lips stilled. His body froze.

The only movement that could be sensed was his grey eyes roaming desperately over the body, again and again and _again_ and his mind whirred and roared and screamed at him as he tried to connect what he was seeing to what could have happened _but he couldn't._

His brain refused to believe that he would never see those brown eyes sparkling at him again. Brown eyes that were now lifeless and dull behind those round glasses he always made fun of.

He refused to believe that the messy black hair would not be messy anymore, no more running a hand through it to impress girls. Messy black hair that was...not so messy anymore. In fact, for the first time since that day on the Hogwarts Express when Sirius Black and James Potter became friends, the infamous Potter hair was..flat. No rebellious tufts sticking up in the back, no stubborn fringe falling into warm brown eyes, and Sirius' heart _ached_ to see his brother that way.

He refused to believe that he would never hear another word of Lily-worship coming from James' lips. Lily-worship that he openly mocked, but secretly liked because he was the only one James ever opened up to about his love.

He refused to believe that he would never wrestle with an overgrown stag on full moon nights anymore. The scar on his stomach twinged. It was a scar that Prongs' humongous antlers caused when he impaled the younger boy accidentally. The scar ached, as if it was mourning as well.

He refused to believe that Padfoot and Prongs would become...just...Padfoot.

The hot wax from the candle dripped onto his hand, jostling him into action. He took tentative steps forward, as if he was scared. And he _was_ scared. Scared that this was real, that this wasn't just another one of his nightmares.

His legs gave out just as he reached James Potter's dead body, a scowl still on his lips. His heavily trembling hand reached out to cup one stubbled cheek and it was the warmth, _it was the goddamn warmth that did him in_ and Sirius could do nothing but break down as the realization that he would never get to hug his brother, or steal his son away from him, or prank him, ever again. Both of his hands clutched the soft fabric of James' shirt and his head fell onto his chest. Sirius' shoulders wracked with heavy sobs, fists tightening into the fabric as he tried to come to terms with the fact that _James was lying dead on the floor._

Slowly, he lifted his head up, his long hair forming a curtain around his face. His hands loosened from the fists they had formed and he slowly cupped James' cheek with one hand. The other went to close one eyelid first, and then the other. He slowly trailed one finger over his forehead, smoothing the wrinkles there, down his temples and across his cheeks. He lifted it up to drag it down his nose, and he would have given anything to see his nose crinkle like it always did when he did this. But it didn't, and although Sirius knew it wouldn't happen, his heart still shattered into tinier pieces and it became harder to breathe.

He ran his finger over James' lips, relaxing the scowl into a smirk, something that was a little more James Potter, despite how much it hurt Sirius to see him like that, since it gave his heart false hope that he would wake up any minute, screaming 'Marauder prank, Pads! Just a Marauder Prank!'

He squeezed his eyes shut and bent down to press a kiss to his forehead. He stayed there for a second, knowing he wouldn't be able to walk away if he stayed there any longer. And as much as it pained him to admit it, he _did_ have to walk away, because he knew he would deteriorate to nothing if he stayed there and that coldn't happen because Harry needed him. _His godson needed him._

"I'll protect him, Prongs. He'll be a true Marauder one day, I promise," He murmured softly, running a hand through his hair, getting it back to its original state, choking back the sobs that threatened to engulf him once more.

He stood up on shaky legs, one hand going to rest on the arm of the couch to support him, the other clenched at his side. He stared at James for another minute, trying to memorize every single detail about him, and when he was sure, _absolutely sure,_ he turned and resolutely climbed up the stairs to his godson's room.

He never saw the candle flickering.

He never saw how it melted away just as the echoes of his steps disappeared.


	4. The Heir

**_Dedicated to Anna, who loves a cigarette between Sirius' fingers just as much as I do._**

 ** _Hope you guys like it, please review :")_**

* * *

They found him leaning on the railing of the Astronomy Tower, a freshly lit cigarette between his fingers and several extinguished ones on the floor beneath him.

James was the first to walk up to him, silently standing beside him and conjuring a cigarette for himself- they had a secret stash somewhere they summoned them from, since they couldn't actually conjure cigarettes- and lighting it.

Remus stood next to him as well, but declined the offer of a fag, his lupine senses too sensitive for the overpowering taste of a cigarette. Never had been able to stand them, ever since the boys discovered them in 6th year. Sirius had learnt how to cast a bubblehead charm just so Remus wasn't affected by the smoke. Of course, he didn't really need it anymore, since his senses were more or less used to it by now.

They looked over the night sky, the sounds of their harsh breaths filling the sky.

Hesitantly, Sirius spoke, "I...got a letter from Walburga today."

James nodded understandingly. Remus cocked his head to the side.

Sirius continued, "She uh talked about how much of a disgrace I am, the usual really. Nothing new," He shrugged. "But, apparently I am still the Heir, much to her disgust. Grandfather decided to keep me on, and she's pissed because she thought that now that I had run away, and been disinherited by her, her precious Regulus would become the Heir."

He let out a bitter laugh, "At least my running away was _somewhat_ useful."

James wrapped an arm around his shoulders, putting his cigarette out, while Remus just looked forward. He wanted to comfort him, say something but he knew that Sirius didn't need pity at this time, but that was all he could feel towards the raven haired boy who had helped him so much in life.

Sirius, oblivious to Remus' thoughts, lit another cigarette, probably his fourth of the night, judging by the litter around his feet. He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke come out of his nostrils instead. He had always said there was some sort of comfort in the slight burn he felt whenever he did that. Remus thought he was crazy.

"You know, you're gonna smoke yourself into an early grave, Pads." Remus remarked.

Sirius exhaled slowly, letting out a bark like laugh in the process, "That'll be the day, Moony, that'll be the day."

And as the night sky turned into morning, illuminated with streaks of red, orange and yellow, the three 7th years sat on the Astronomy Tower, with their sides pressed against each other, _taking comfort_ in each other.

The war might have been raging outside, but they all had their own battles to fight.


	5. Hiking

_**Written for:**_

 ** _-Anna ((I really hope you like this. Think of this as my way of thanking you for the wonderful, wonderful reviews?)_**

 ** _\- Task: Psychology-_** Sanguine

 ** _-Monopoly_**

 _ **Word count: 1920**_

* * *

"So, you really up for this, Padfoot?" James Potter was almost bouncing on his feet from the energy that was coursing through his veins. He knew the extra strong coffee he had almost inhaled that morning would come back to bite him in the ass, but he really didn't care in that moment.

He was finally going hiking!

Of course, his parents had strictly told him no when he first proposed the idea to them, thinking it was too risky for him. Without magic, on top of that! They were surprised that he would do something like that, even knowing how well, reckless he was.

But he had really wanted to try something new, he was tired of the same old going to classes and coming back to sleep thing he had going, and the moment he read about this in a muggle magazine Lily brought to Hogwarts with her, he knew this was an adventure he could sign up for! It had been just unconventional and unique enough to catch his fancy and he would be damned if he didn't at least try it out.

After months of begging, pleading and bribery he had finally convinced his parents to agree, albeit reluctantly, and Sirius to accompany him.

Of course, what really cinched it for Sirius was the fact that they were going to hike on a muggle trail, with a completely muggle hiking group. Merlin knew how fascinated that boy was with all things muggle. Only Arthur Weasley could give him a run for his money, James reckoned.

"Ay, Prongs. I already told you didn't I? Plus, the girls, mate, the girls," He sent a lecherous grin his way, winking in an overly exaggerated manner.

"Oi, cut it out, Pads. I don't want people to be creeped out by you so soon. At least let the hike start first, that way they couldn't escape you even if they wanted to."

Sirius shoved him playfully, "Fuck off, Prongs. Where's your tour guide anyway?" He looked around the little office they were sitting in, trying very hard not to fidget with the wand holster strapped to his forearm that was hidden by his shirt.

"There she is," James announced as a pretty blonde entered through a side door, presumably the office. He stood up to shake her hand, smiling slightly at her.

She faltered slightly as she got a good look at the menace that was James Potter. His rugged look was a recent venture, with a stubble on his usually clean shaven face and hair even more messed up than usual. The half smile his lips were quirked up in were enough to charm anyone, witch or wizard, and this muggle woman in her early twenties was no exception.

From where he was sitting, Sirius snorted, used to this behaviour now. At least the girls in Hogwarts were used to them, but it never failed to amuse either of them when they went out and came in contact with others.

He stood up himself to introduce himself, and his best mate who apparently forgot to do so.

"Hey, I'm Sirius. And the idiot here is James. Nice meeting you," He gave her hand a light squeeze, noticing how her breath hitched slightly when he did so and his lips pulled up into a tiny smirk.

"Uh- Nice to meet you too. I-uh I'm Anna," She blushed slightly at her stammering.

"Great to see you, Anna. I can't wait to get this show on the road!" James piped up.

The lady in question nodded fervently, visibly composing herself before she led them towards the back entrance, where the rest of the group was waiting for them, along with two other guides.

After the introductions, the group was taken to the starting point of their trek. They were given a few basic instructions, some survival tips (James snorted at that one) and some other advice and told to get on.

James and Sirius lagged slightly behind the rest of the group since they didn't want anyone accidentally overhearing their conversation, because Merlin knew their talk wouldn't be muggle-friendly.

"What'd you tell Dumbledore? I mean, I meant to ask you but well, you know what happened," Sirius asked in a slightly hushed voice.

"The truth, actually. You know the old man would find out in a heartbeat where we were if we were out for the whole day, especially since it's the weekend and everyone expects us to create some trouble," James grinned rakishly.

"True, true," Sirius agreed, "But he just said yes like that? No questions whatsoever?"

"Well, he had one request. He wanted us to give him a full account of how it was, for future reference."

Sirius laughed out loud at the mental image of Albus Dumbledore, defeater of Grindelwald and one of the most powerful wizards alive, trying to climb a hill and duck tree branches, all decked out in muggle clothes.

James laughed along with him, guessing correctly where his thoughts were headed, for he was thinking the same thing.

"Well, you guys seem very amused," A voice somewhere to their left said, making James jump in surprise.

"Woah, Anna, you scared me. Give a bloke a little warning next time, eh?" James breathed.

"Sorry," Anna blushed, her skin turning a pretty shade of pink.

"No harm done, love. James' is an idiot, as I told you before, pay him no mind," Sirius announced, wedging himself between the two.

He offered a hand to the blonde, and only had to wait a couple seconds before she got a determined look in her eyes and took it.

James smirked at the pair, "You two have fun, I think I'll go ahead to catch up with the group. I've read that this is a particularly nice patch of forest, really quiet and isolated. Wouldn't want to get lost." And with that he walked away, whistling and twirling the wooden stick in his hand.

Sirius stared at him for a second before shaking his head at his best mate, "Sorry about...that. Ignore him?"

Anna laughed, a pretty tinkling sound that made Sirius smile, "If you say so, you know him better."

Sirius bowed his head in acceptance, "So, how long have you been hiking?"

Anna tilted her head, "Hmm, that's a good question. As a hobby, since I was 9. My mom used to love the outdoors, so we frequently visited the woods, climbed various mountains, and camped out. Professionally, about 2 years now."

Sirius whistled, ducking under a low tree branch, "That's hella impressive. This is our first time hiking. Where we're from, we don't really have a lot of hiking opportunities."

Anna looked interested, "Oh? Where ARE you from, anyway? And what made you come hiking?"

"Well, we live in England, but we go to boarding school in the Highlands of Scotland, and the terrain there isn't really favorable for outdoor activities." Anna nodded in agreement.

"As for suddenly coming out to hike, Prongs-uh that's James, looked through a mugg- uh a magazine and saw a hiking advertisement sort of thing, and well, he wanted to try it out as soon as he could, to get away from the monotonous school life. And since I'm his designated scapegoat, here I am," Sirius spread his arms to the side and shrugged to accentuate his point.

Anna sent him an amused look, "So you guys get into a lot of trouble at this school of yours? I can't imagine the title 'designated scapegoat' came just come about on its own."

Sirius' lips turned into a mischievous smile, "Perceptive, are we? I would say we aren't completely opposed to...having fun."

Her eyebrows raised a bit in disbelief and Sirius laughed, holding his hands up, "Okay, okay. We like to play pranks, a lot of them. Mind you, it's not just me and Prongs, we have two other reckless idiots in our little group. They're just not as reckless as we are."

Anna nodded thoughtfully, "Of course, from what little I've seen of you, I can't imagine it'll be easy to match up to you guys in recklessness."

Sirius flicked her nose playfully, and she giggled, twisting out of his reach.

"Cut it out, will you, Padfoot?" James shouted from a few metres away.

The man in question scowled at him, "Piss off, Prongs!"

He could hear James' laugh all the way where he was standing, "We're here for the view, Pads. Not that the one beside you isn't a pleasant view because it is." He turned to wink at a blushing Anna, "But come up here and look at this one as well." With that he turned away to look at the beautiful view in front of him.

As Sirius was chatting their lovely tour guide up, James looked at the vast expanse in front of him. He felt a sort of peace spreading throughout his body, calming all the nervous energy he always seemed to be running on.

While people knew him as the constantly active, always chattering, never sitting still type of person, it was the ones closer to him, mainly just Sirius, who really knew how much he liked the peace. Of course, that was subject to him being alone because he couldn't stand silence when he was around people, hence his need to fill it with words and actions and pranks.

But when he was alone, like this, it was then that he craved the silence this place afforded him. Sure, there were other hikers around and Sirius was flirting with the blonde beauty behind him, but in that moment, with the snow capped mountains and a flowing river in front of him, he felt as at peace as he physically could be.

There was no tapping his fingers out of boredom, his mind wasn't whirling with random thoughts of pranking and his knee wasn't bouncing with nervous energy.

He felt calm.

In that moment, he understood why people liked nature, why some risked their lives to participate in certain outdoor activities, because this serenity was worth all of it.

* * *

James was leaning against the wall, fingering the pamphlet for adventure sports he had picked up from the front desk. He was waiting for Sirius, who had apparently managed to impress Anna so much that they were planning on meeting for a coffee date someday. If he strained his ears, he could just make out their conversation, and it simultaneously made him want to smirk and gag.

Sirius had his fingers entwined with Anna's, "It was really nice meeting you, love. I hope we can see each other again. Without the pesky best mate hovering around, preferably."

Anna laughed, leaning into him, "Of course. But you live so far away, however would it work?"

Sirius bent a little to place a feather light kiss on the corner of her mouth, "Don't you worry about that, sweetheart. If you're still working here in a month, then you can be sure to expect me standing outside."

Anna nodded, and wrapped her around his neck, and Sirius' wound around her waist, squeezing tightly. They stayed like that for a few second before Anna pulled back, and blushing furiously, pecked the raven haired man on the lips, making them pull up in a huge smile.

Sirius caressed her cheek once, before he reluctantly stepped back.

He walked back to where James was waiting, a shit eating grin on his face. Sirius took one look at him and groaned.

"Shut up, Prongs."


	6. Home

**Written for Eurovision song contest, Czech Republic.**

 **Word count: 1776**

 **Leave a review telling me what y'all would like to read next? :") Hope you guys enjoy this!**

 **Also, the first chapter for my Sirimione fic is up on Doc Manager, and will be posted soon, in case anyone's interested.**

James Potter awoke to the sound of crashing and noises coming from the lawn. He immediately got off the bed, not even bothering to put on a shirt and ran down to the hall where he found his parents in a similarly disheveled state.

"Mum? What's wrong?" James asked in concern.

"I don't know, James. We heard this loud crash and immediately came downstairs," Euphemia Potter's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

James looked at his dad, who was looking intently towards the back lawn. A moment later, he briskly walked towards the glass door that opened into the lawn, opening it firmly.

James almost ran behind his father, "Dad, dad! What's wrong? What did you see?"

The Potter patriarch shushed his son, and entered the lawn. His brown eyes quickly scanned the area and his heart almost stopped when he saw the bloody body lying near the bushes.

He was about to run towards the body, but his son beat him to it.

"PADFOOT!" James' scream was anguished and broken, his voice cracking.

He reached the unconscious body of his best friend and had to contain a sob when he saw the state in which he was. His dark hair was matted with blood, his face was almost unrecognisable with the amount of bruises and blood spread on it. His lip was freely bleeding and his right eye was so swollen you couldn't see his eye. His breathing was laboured and coming out in pants and as James frantic eyes roved his body, he found similarly horrifying injuries. His whole body was trembling from some invisible pressure and….

…... _Was that a missing finger on his right hand?_

James was close to panicking when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing firmly….desperately. He looked back to see his mother looking down at Sirius with anger and fear in her normally calm eyes. He forced himself to take a step back and stand up, taking a deep breath.

"Please….please heal him, mum. I'm begging you," He had tears freely streaming down his face at this point but he didn't care. His..his brother was lying almost _dead_ in front of him and there was nothing he could do.

Euphemia nodded tightly before waving her wand over Sirius to levitate him, hesitating slightly when he groaned out loud at the movement. She visibly steeled herself and carried him into the house, where she immediately placed him on the nearest bed.

The Potter matriarch cut a formidable figure in her dark robes and set face, waving her wand and casting silently. Through blurred eyes, James could make out that the wounds on Sirius' body were slowly, excruciatingly slowly, beginning to close up.

He heard the door open behind him and saw his father coming in, with Mopsy, their elf, following behind. She immediately climbed onto the bed beside Sirius and started moving her own hands over him. With a start, James realized that she was healing him with her own elf magic, which was far superior to a wizard and almost never used on one either.

After watching his mother and Mopsy heal Sirius as well as they could, James took shaky steps towards the bed, where he collapsed on his knees to be closer to Sirius. His hands wrapped Sirius' clammy, cold ones. He pressed his forehead to their joined hands and sent out a prayer to whomever was listening. He didn't know what he would do if Sirius died.

He was his _brother._

He felt his father's large hand on his shoulder, telling him to step back. For the second time that night, James took a reluctant step away from Sirius.

Fleamont brushed the bloody fringe away from Sirius' forehead, a boy he looked at as another son, had since first year. His fingers clenched slightly as images of his previously bloody and broken form assaulted his mind. _How could anyone do that to a child?_

His fingers trailed down to his right hand, where he was missing his ring finger, probably due to his Apparition. It was beyond him how a 15 year old managed to apparate, and in such a state as well. He lifted his wand and muttered a spell, watching as the finger regrew, and was thankful that Sirius hadn't been awake for that. It was an incredibly painful procedure, regrowing complete bodily parts, especially when you've lost them due to Apparating.

He leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on the unconscious boy's mane of hair, uncaring of the blood and dirt.

"You're finally home, son," Fleamont Potter whispered, his voice quivering.

James was finally allowed to go into the guest room one whole day after Sirius was found unconscious in their lawn. Until now, he had been forbidden to enter the room by his mother, who constantly shooed him away whenever he even _thought_ of sneaking into the room. As a result, James was frustrated and scared.

But now, he was finally allowed in and he was uncharacteristically nervous. His palms were sweating slightly, and he could feel beads of perspiration dripping down his back.

He was afraid of what he would find when he entered the room.

Slowly, he pushed the unnecessarily large door open and slowly walked in to find Sirius sitting up on the bed, slightly pushing against the number of pillows he was leaning against.

Immediately, James rushed forward, "Are-are you okay? Do you need anything? Can I do something?" His hands were frantically moving around as if itching to do something but not knowing what.

Sirius let out a raspy laugh, "Prongs, mate, I'm fine." James gave him a look. "Okay, fine, my back hurts slightly, but I'm fine otherwise."

At that, the older boy relented, taking a step backward and running a hand through his hair.

"I-you worried me, Sirius. I have been going out of my mind" James breathed, the last 24 hours finally catching up to him.

Sirius looked at him and shifted on the bed. When James made to move again, he stopped him a wave of his hand. A few seconds later, he patted the newly emptied space to his right, signalling James to come and join him.

Hesitantly, James climbed the bead, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to refuse what with Sirius' stubbornness. When he sat as far away from Sirius without touching to not hurt him, the other boy let out a growl of frustration and _pulled_ him closer, until their sides were pressed together.

Letting out a content purr-like noise, Sirius snuggled into James, tucking his head into the crook of his neck and closed his eyes.

James sighed, shaking his head and placed his arm over Sirius' shoulders in a more comfortable position.

"But you're okay, right? Really?" James asked after a few minutes of silence.

Sirius chewed on his lip, silent for a while "Not really. I mean, physically I know I'll be fine, but it's more what _happened_ you know? It's just, I know they weren't the best people. Hell, I bet Voldy himself would admit that. But, at the end of the day, he was still my father and she was still my mother. I-I never thought they'd try something like that, y'know?"

James' arm tightened over his shoulders and his other fist clenched hard as he fought to control his anger. He still couldn't believe that his best mate's own _parents_ tortured him, forced him to get the Dark Mark. It was an inconceivable notion to him that any parent would even _think_ of doing something so barbaric.

Sirius continued, "And I think the worst part was that Reg could hear everything. He can't claim ignorance anymore, because he heard every. single. word. He knows what would happen to him, what's in his future and he's willing to do it. He's actually willing to sign his life over to a psychotic madman all because Her Highness has spoken. It's disgusting." The tear, however, leaking out of his eye told James that he was less disgusted and more hurt. And worried. For he was one of the few who knew how much Sirius still loved his younger brother, even despite their numerous differences and all efforts on their parents' part to drive them apart.

Sirius would give his life up for Regulus, it was just another fact of life.

"I-I know it's not easy for you, being here while he's there. I know you're worried for him, I know you think he'll end up either crazy like Bellatrix or dead, but I need you to believe that it's not your fault. You can't take it on yourself, Pads. He made his choice, as-as.. _disagreeable_ it is, and you've tried all you can to change his mind After a certain point, even you won't be able to do anything." James knew Sirius felt guilty, because he felt like he had abandoned his brother, and he was determined to make him feel otherwise.

Sirius' shoulders shook as he replied, "Bu-But I could've tried _harder,_ I could've written to him more in First Year. I should've sat with him at the Slytherin Table, or invited him to ours. Maybe that would've made the difference."

"And maybe Grindelwald's Reign of Terror could've killed Voldy when he was a kid and we wouldn't be here. You can't go galloping off into the world of 'what ifs' and 'maybes', they won't help you, at all," James replied calmly.

Sirius hung his head in defeat at his best mate's words, "You-you're right. I-I _know_ that, I just feel like I gave up too easy, you know?"

"I know, Pads, I know. But we can't do anything about that. The only thing we can do is hope Regulus comes into his own before he is made to go through what you did," James whispered.

He could feel the younger boy nodding against his shoulder, and he pressed a kiss to his messy hair.

"Now sleep. You need your rest, and mom would kill me if she found out I disturbed you like this. In fact," James said, beginning to get up, "I should be going right about now. She'd never allow me back in if she found out I almost displaced you from your own bed."

But Sirius had other ideas, as he gripped his arm and pulled him back, a slight pout on his face, "No."

James' eyebrows raised, "No?"

Sirius shook his head, his wavy locks flying about, "No."

James laughed and climbed into bed beside him again, "Alright then, Pads. Good night."

"Night, Prongs," With a smile on his face, Sirius Black went to sleep.

 **In case it didn't make sense, Her Highness is Walburga.**


	7. Matter of Pride

**I hope this one's not too bad, since I was in a rut when I wrote this and just, yeah.**

 **I googled 'characteristics of a stag' for the ending, but I got onto a page that described an Irish _stag night_ and wow, can I just say that was enlightening?**

 **Anyway, hope y'all like this :")**

 **word count: 1085**

* * *

"BLOODY HELL," A voice shrieked in the bathroom, causing all three boys lying on their respective beds to jump in surprise, one chubby boy even falling off.

"What the fuck, Pads? What happened now?" James groaned, rubbing his hip where he had jumped right back onto the _very_ pointy corner of the nightstand.

Sirius came out of the bathroom with a horrified expression on his face, "THIS happened."

One look at him and all the three boys in the room almost fell over in shock. Shock, that slowly turned into raucous laughter that made Sirius scowl and turn away.

"Sirius, wait." James called out to the younger boy, causing him to slowly turn back.

James was the first to stop laughing, partly due to the look on Sirius' face and partly due to curiosity. The lower half of Sirius' face was covered in a very thick, scraggly beard. His hair, that he was recently growing out and was just below his ears the previous night, was now well past his shoulders.

James hesitantly walked up to him and held a hand up, silently asking for permission. At Sirius' jerky nod, he ran his fingers through the beard and gasped as the surprisingly silky feel of it. He threaded his fingers through it, eyes wide in wonder.

"Stop that, Prongs," Sirius muttered, his face slowly turning pink.

James smirked knowingly but withdrew his hand.

"But what in the name of Merlin happened, Sirius?" Remus exclaimed from where he had previously been lounging on his bed, but was not sitting upright.

The boy in question exchanged a panicked glance with James, before turning to Remus with a perfectly innocent expression on his face. "Oh, Moony, you know how these things happen."

Remus cocked a suspicious eyebrow.

James sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll bite. It was me alright? I wanted revenge on Sirius and I thought why not attack him where it hurts most; his hair." To further convince him, he sent a very pointed glare towards the bearded fifth year, who quickly looked down to hide the growing smile on his face.

Remus slowly nodded, the suspicion still present on his face. "And exactly what did he do thar warranted revenge, James?"

Face paling slightly, James muttered, "Uh-it's just, he-uh, he stole my favorite boxers!"

Recognizing that James' credibility was rapidly declining with each word that left his mouth, Sirius stepped in. "Well, you see, all my boxers were dirty, and I didn't have the time or energy to wash them, so I borrowed one of his."

Remus' face showed that he still did not believe them but for the sake of his sanity, he dropped the subject.

Sirius, on the other hand, stalked into the washroom with a scowl on his handsome face when he realized just what kind of a predicament he was stuck in.

He could hear James' booming laughter in the other room and stuck his hand out through the doorway in an obscene gesture that only served to make him laugh harder.

"I swear, if this doesn't work out in the end," he muttered darkly under his breath. He grabbed his wand off the cabinet and transfigured his comb into a temporary razor. He scowled at the offending item in his hand, never needing it before now.

Fifteen minutes later, however, he was feeling positively homicidal towards the razor. He had tried every method, every spell in the book and yet the beard refused to go away, or at least keep to a respectable length. He roughly grabbed the shoulder length hair and tied it up into a messy bun on top of his head. He took one look at the beard that was now at least two inches below his chin and threw the razor onto the ground, where it clattered and turned back into the wooden comb, and stormed out of the washroom.

"From all the expletives, and the banging towards the end, I'm assuming it didn't work?" James chuckled from where he was lounging on his four poster bed.

"Oh, fuck off, Prongs," Sirius growled, before taking his book bag and leaving the dorm. For the second time that morning, James' laughter followed him as he stalked down the stairs.

* * *

"People have been staring and gaping and giggling and..and _giggling,_ James!" Sirius ranted hotly. James schooled his features into one of appropriate sympathy, nodding along with whatever Sirius was saying.

"And McGonagall, James! She threatened to throw me into detention. I mean, can you believe that?" he continued, pulling at his hair as he paced in front of the fireplace in the Common Room.

"And you guys weren't helping either," he accused, turning to James. "Sitting there, laughing as if your lives depended on it."

James held up his hands placatingly. "Now, now, Sirius. You should be treating this as a good thing, a blessing in disguise."

Sirius cocked an eyebrow at him. "And why is that? I hardly think walking around looking like a hooligan who can't afford a razor is a boon."

James ignored his attempt to provoke him. "This shows that we're finally making some progress!"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Look at it this way," James lowered his voice to a whisper. "This means that our efforts the past two years haven't been in vain."

His voice grew more passionate and determined as he continued, "We know now that your form is very...shaggy. Maybe even canine?"

Sirius grey eyes lit up in as James' words washed over him. "So, I guess we could call this a...partial transformation?"

James snickered. "That would be a stretch, but I guess, yeah you can."

Sirius started pacing again as excitement leaked into his words. "And this means that complete transformation is not too far away, either." He stopped and turned to James.

"You, Prongs, are a genius."

James smirked. "But of course."

"No one would be foolish enough to call you arrogant, I see," Sirius retorted. However, he had a smile on his face that was not there a few minutes ago.

The rest of the week, which was how long it took for his beard to go away, he held his head up high and smirked at anyone who did a double take at him.

It was all for Remus in the end, why should he be ashamed of it? And when James sprouted a pair of tiny antlers just a couple days after his sudden burst of hair, they carried it with pride.


	8. Cliff Jumping

**I've been very negligent with this. I'm sorry.**

 **Hope y'all like this, dont forget to review :")**

 **Anna, I really hope the descriptions make up for atleast SOME of the thanks I owe you ;)**

 **Word count: 2582**

* * *

"James, will you walk faster? Honestly, Uncle Alphard could walk faster than you. _And he's dead."_

James shot an exasperated look at the overeager Sirius Black in front of him, but fastened his pace nonetheless.

The reason why he was so excited was because he was going to see his lady love again. Why James was drafted to accompany them as an awkward third wheel, he didn't know but he figured that now was as good a time as any to be the perfect wingman. Plus, he got to jump off a cliff and maybe show off in front of some girls so the situation wasn't too bad.

"ANNA!"

He stumbled and almost fell on his ass when Sirius shouted at the top of the lungs right in front of him.

"Jeez. Just push me off the cliff to kill me, will ya?" he muttered under his breath.

Sirius, however, paid him no attention for he had spotted the distinctive blonde hair that belonged to Anna.

When he caught up to his best mate, he was already locked in a tight embrace with their tour guide, their mouths glued together.

"Alright, alright. Enough with the tonsil hockey, yes?"

Sirius shot him a dark glare as he pulled apart.

"I brought you along to be my wingman, not a damn cockblock, you arse," he whispered harshly in his direction. James merely gave him a huge smile and a thumbs up.

"Hey, Anna. You're looking great." And she was. Dressed in brown shorts and an emerald green top, with her sun kissed blonde hair tied back in a messy braid, she looked really _really_ good.

Anna blushed but stepped forward into his open arms to give him a loose hug. "Nice to see you too, James. I see you're all ready. I'm assuming you want to impress the ladies?" She sent him a sly look that told him she looked right through his pretense.

He grinned sheepishly at her, hand going up to tousle his black hair. "Ah well, you know me. Plus, now that your gorgeous self is going to steal my best friend, I need to occupy myself somehow."

"Come on now, James. You can hang out with us, that's not an issue," she argued.

"Ha. It most definitely is an issue, darling. James is going to be nowhere near us for the next few hours," Sirius butted in from where he was standing behind Anna, his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin on her shoulder.

Anna turned around, presumably to argue in James' favor, but as soon as she did, she sneezed. This tiny, kitten like sneeze.

"Your hair was tickling my nose," she murmured, cheeks pink from embarrassment.

Sirius' chest rumbled with laughter and he placed a quick kiss on her still warm cheek, "It's alright, Anna. That was adorable." And with that, he started kissing his way down to her neck where her pulse point was throbbing gently. Anna's eyes closed in pleasure as she let out a sigh at his ministrations.

"And with that, I'm off," James began hurriedly, not wishing to see his best mate and his girlfriend getting in on right in the middle of the forest they were standing in. "I'll see you at 5 at the Point yeah?"

Without waiting for an answer, he took off towards the cliff edge where he would be jumping from.

A few minutes after he left, Sirius raised his head from Anna's neck, which was now covered in bite marks and hickeys.

"Ah. He left. Great." Sirius grinned triumphantly at that.

Anna smacked his chest, not hard enough to hurt but definitely enough to show her disapproval. "That was mean."

Sirius waved her off. "Oh come on. He didn't want to be third wheeling us anyway. I bet you that if we go to the cliff now, he'd be shirtless and surrounded by no less than seven girls."

Anna still seemed unsure on whether they ought to just leave him on his own but one steamy look from Sirius soon rid her of all such thoughts.

"Now, I was hoping you would know a quiet secluded place around here where we could be alone."

"Oh?" One blonde eyebrow cocked in question. "And why would we need to be alone, Mr. Black?"

Sirius rolled his eyes fondly. "I'm not just a horny dog, you know." He ignored the 'could have fooled me' that Anna muttered. " I was thinking you would know some sort of clearing or a secluded beach sort of thing here, since you do this stuff often."

Anna bit her lip as she seemed to think about it before her eyes lit up and she took Sirius' hand. She dragged him in some random direction for about five minutes before the thick expanse trees started to thin down a little, unless they entered a beautiful little clearing.

Sirius' jaw went slack as he turned around in a circle to look at the clearing. There was a beautiful little waterfall just in front of him, surrounded by a lake that was the perfect size for the two of them. One look at the water confirmed what he already knew; the water was crystal clear and _gorgeous._

It was surrounded by rocks and flowers and wildlife he'd never even heard of in his life and overall, it was amazing. Breathtaking.

He heard the tinkling sound of giggling that he had come to associate with Anna and turned around, grinning at her.

"How did you find this place?! It's crazy!"

"Well, I accidentally separated from my friends this one time when we were going to the cliff, and I ended up here. Didn't want to leave the place."

"I certainly don't blame you. I mean, look at this place!" He exclaimed, sweeping his arm around to emphasise his point.

Anna laughed, the sound warming Sirius' heart, nodding in agreement.

"Okay, no more wasting time. Let's jump in," Sirius suggested, already reaching behind him to pull his shirt off.

Anna watched with unrestrained rapture as inch by teasing inch, tanned skin was revealed. He was beautifully sculpted, which she knew was due to his affinity for muggle forms of exercise and endurance, with perfect washboard abs. She could see a tattoo of some kind just above his hipbone and another, a word from what she could make out, running down his left side. His shorts were hung low on his hips, showing off the delicious V that she would love to lick sometime.

Anna's cheeks flared red at her unusually raunchy thoughts. She couldn't help it, though. Sirius Black, with his full pouty lips, stormy grey eyes, wavy black hair and overall sinfully delicious bad boy image did things to get that she wasn't completely sure she had problems with.

As she watched, Sirius shucked his pants off, leaving him in his swimming trunks. He took a step back and took a running leap into the lake.

Anna shook her head at his childlike enthusiasm, and then burst out laughing when he came back up and started shaking his head in an incredibly doglike manner.

"Come on, Anna! Why are you still dressed?" Sirius whined.

Anna bit her lip before quickly unbuttoning her shorts and sliding them down her legs. Not wanting to look at Sirius yet, she took her green top off as well, leaving her in a black and mint green bikini with a bandeau top. Blushing furiously, she carefully padded towards the edge of the lake before carefully stepping into it. Only when was safely covered by water, not that it did much good because of how clear it was, did she look up at Sirius. She gulped at his smouldering gaze, letting out a tiny squeak when he leaped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You're so fucking gorgeous, Anna," he murmured, his forehead resting against hers.

She leaned forward to peck him on the lips in response before easing away from his hold.

"You know, you could've seriously hurt yourself," she commented instead, feeling too shy to continue their previous...whatever was happening.

Sirius looked at her in amusement, but played along with her obvious change in topic. "Hurt myself how?"

"You didn't know how deep the water was, or if there were any rocks down there. And you just jumped in, so you could have gotten hurt."

Sirius took a step forward caging her between his arms, his voice going husky as he leant forward to whisper in her ear. "Would you have kissed me better if I had?"

Anna squeaked loudly, covering her red face with her hands. Sirius laughed, removing his hands from around her and taking a step back to float on his back.

"You're adorable, Anna. Did I ever mention that?" he called out.

"Only a few hundred times since we met, Sirius," she muttered under her breath, albeit with a smile on her lips. She suspected he knew just how much she liked it when he called her adorable.

* * *

After swimming around for some time, just enjoying each other's presence, they got out reluctantly and got dressed. Anna didn't understand how her bikini dried so quickly but she certainly didn't pay any attention to it as the sight of Sirius Black running his hands through his wavy locks, with his muscles flexing and his V on torturous display invaded her senses. She barely managed to conceal a groan at how amazing he looked and quickly turned away before he caught her. Just as she was buttoning her shorts up, though, he sent her a saucy wink that warmed her cheeks and she knew he had caught her ogling him.

"Let's go find James, yeah?" she suggested, as they finished dressing.

Sirius shrugged nonchalantly before reaching over to take her hand and entangle their fingers together. Anna smiled at his action and led the way to the cliff where James had said he would be.

When they reached the Point, she had to stifle a laugh when she saw James in exactly the atmosphere Sirius had described when she was fussing over whether he'd feel lonely or not.

He was comfortably shirtless, with his trunks riding low on his hips as well, and surrounded by a gaggle of girls. He was flexing, running his hand through his air, giving them that ridiculously charming smile of his and basically just playing the crowd, who seemed to love it.

In front of her eyes, he motioned for everyone to stand to the side and took a short bow when cheering and hollers of 'James, James, James' began. Anna watched with wide eyes as he took a running leap of the cliff and had to strain her neck to see him doing some sort of weird acrobatics sort of thing in mid air.

A loud snort from beside her startled her as she remembered that Sirius was still there, holding her hand. She looked at him in question.

"Prongs," he shook his head with exasperation. "Always a fucking show off"

"Put him in front of a group of people and he will never fail to strut and prance around."

Anna giggled at the mental image of James Potter prancing around like a horse, faintly noticing Sirius squeeze her hand.

Suddenly, she felt a wet hand wrap around her waist and wet hair tickle the side of her face. She squealed in surprise when James Potter's chin landed on her surprise.

"James! Holy fuck, you scared me!"

"I'm sorry, love," the grinning black haired boy apologized, not looking very sorry at all.

"Prongs," Sirius growled warningly from beside her. James raised his hands in the air in a clear show of professing innocence. An act further pronounced by the widening of his gorgeous brown eyes and the fluttering of his eyelashes. Anna bit her lip at how good he looked when he did that.

She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts and unwittingly, her eyes travelled downwards, checking out the incredibly buff young man in front of her.

Where Sirius was lean and slim and hard edges, James was the complete opposite. He was buff, and muscled, and looked like he could bench press her with no effort. He didn't look overly stocky like bodybuilders on steroids, though. The look suited him. His black hair was dripping over his wide shoulders, his collarbones prominently on display, making her lose her train of thought momentarily. His chest was pale as a vampire, unlike Sirius, who was deliciously tanned. Just as her eyes reached the point where his swimming trunks started, however, she squeaked lightly and turned to bury her face in Sirius' shoulder, her damned cheeks burning again.

She could feel Sirius shaking with restrained laughter. "It's alright, sweetheart. He might be an idiot, but he has an alright body. I won't blame you."

She could feel rather than see the indignant look James threw his way.

"Alright? ALRIGHT? This dreamboat is something your scrawny ass can never even dream of, lover boy." James huffed dramatically.

This time, Sirius lost his fight with the laughter as he almost fell over, taking Anna down with him too. "Dreamboat?" he spluttered. "Who fuck even says that word?"

As Sirius roared with his infectious laughter, Anna started giggling as well. The whole scenario was hilarious.

"Okay, fine, whatever Pads,' James muttered, coloring slightly at their unstopping laughter. "Shut up already, will ya?"

Sirius calmed down a little but one look at James' scowling face and he started right back up again. It took him the better part of five minutes to get his laughter under control, even after which he kept muttering 'dreamboat' under his breath and snorting every now and then.

After some time jumping off the cliff and swimming around themselves, they made their way out of the woods. The sun was setting, casting a warm orange glow over the whole area.

"It was wonderful meeting you again, Anna," James said warmly. He came forward and hugged her tight, which reminded her of his impressive body as it pressed up against her own. She stuttered out her own niceties before stepping back, pointedly avoiding the slight smirk on his face.

As he walked out towards their bike, Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He leaned down to take her up lip into his mouth, sucking on it lightly and making her sigh into his mouth at the contact.

She wrapped around fingers around the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him down slightly and nibbling at his lip. She smiled in triumph when he groaned lightly. They were blissfully lost in each for a few minutes until a shout caused them to, quite literally, jump apart.

"PADFOOT!"

Sirius broke away from her to scowl at a grinning James Potter who was leaning against the motorbike and indicating towards an invisible watch on his wrist.

'We're late' he mouthed at him, still grinning triumphantly.

"Fucker," Sirius muttered under his breath, annoyed at the intrusion before looking up at Anna. Sighing lightly, he placed a feather light kiss on the corner of her mouth before stepping back.

"Bye, Anna."

"Bye, Sirius," she replied shyly, waving at him.

She stifled her laughter again when she saw him going back to his bike and smacking an openly laughing James over the head.

Those two would never change. And she wouldn't have it any other way.


	9. Padfoot's Comfort

**_I'm not even kidding, this is a mess. I wrote this two weeks ago because I was in_** **_a rut, and not able to work on AER. I know it's very shitty, but yeah, it's something._**

 ** _On another note, in case anyone's following AER here, I just posted the next_ _chapter :_ _")_**

 ** _Word count: 722_**

* * *

It was James's turn to be standing on the Astronomy Tower that evening. His normally smiling face was emotionless and his normally wild hair lay flat, which was, in itself, a miracle. It didn't feel like one, however.

Suddenly, the sound of paws thudding on marble could be heard coming up the stairs but James didn't so much as twitch. He knew who it was. He had known since the moment he decided to go up to the Astronomy Tower that he would not be alone for more than a few minutes.

It took less than a minute for a huge black dog, The Grim, to come padding in beside him. James didn't even think before he was sitting down on the cold marble floor, with his back to the wall, and leaning on the dog. He didn't even feel the cold as Padfoot radiated enough heat to keep them both toasty warm.

"I know I should've told you, but I really couldn't bring myself up to go to the Common Room," James started but a short bark from the dog caused him to stop. He looked down to see Padfoot looking up at him with an eyebrow raised. He was aware that raising eyebrows wasn't something dogs could actually do but since this was actually Sirius Black and no one could stop him from doing what he wanted in _human form_ then it was hopeless in animal form. He sighed at the action but dutifully shut up.

Padfoot took a couple steps forward until he was half in James' lap, before pressing his head against the other boy's hand in an obvious effort to get him to pet him.

James dutifully obliged, running his hands through his silky soft fur and relishing in the mewls the simple action generated. He occasionally scratched the back of his ears, knowing how much he loved it.

After some time of complete silence, James spoke up again. "It was Lily. She saw me hexing Snivellus and without listening to any sort of explanation, just slapped me and walked away." Sirius licked his hand in support before pawing at gently to continue.

"He was bullying one of the younger Puffs, Pads. With Avery and Mulciber. They were laughing at her tears, how could I let that go? I couldn't! I know Lily was coming down that hallway for Potions but I couldn't just let them get away with that. And you know what Dumbledore would've said, 'ah they're just kids, finding their way in the world, 10 points from Slytherin.' That's not how it should work, Pads!

And then Lily saw me hexing Snivellus, it wasn't even anything painful, just an underpowered Reducto that made him fall to the ground. Of course, she decided I had to be the bad guy and without hearing anything, decided to just slap me and get it over with," James eyes' were now downcast and slightly wet.

No one other than Sirius knew how much Lily Evans and her behavior hurt James, and he couldn't help but curse her out every time he saw her because of that. James wasn't a stalker, nor was he a mindless bully. He had asked her out maybe twice, and she decided, egged on by Severus Snape of all people, that he was the Devil Incarnate.

Sirius whined slightly, nuzzling into James' hand. He gently climbed onto his lap, his front paws resting on his shoulders, making sure not to scratch him and licked James all over the face, making him smile and then laugh. Soon they fell into a wrestling match, which was slightly unfair due to the advantage Padfoot had in his Grim form over James, who was just a measly Fifth year. At least when compared to Padfoot.

Sirius couldn't do a lot more other than just being there for James and listening to him. He knew that this, playing around with Padfoot, petting him, calmed him down more than anything else and that he needed Padfoot more than Sirius right now.

So he stayed right there, with his head on his best friend's lap, hoping he would feel better soon because he couldn't bear to see him in such a state.


	10. Rants And All

**Ello there! This is just something that I wrote after seeing The Friendship Challenge on Hogwarts forum. And come on, even with a crucial submission the next day that accounts for a percentage of my final grade, did anyone really think I wouldn't write a marauders one shot for it? I'm sure no one who knows me did.**

 **Th prompt was _'being there and listening to a friends ranting'_ and I really hope I managed to capture that here? I'm not the best at humor or silly situations so I'm not sure how I did but yeah, I hope you guys like it and any feedback is welcome :")**

 **This is to be dedicated to a friend we've made on the forum, someone special, and that honor will _always_ belong to Anna, who has been the most perfect friend ever. So this one's for her [this is also a tiny little apology for my inactiveness, Anna :3] and I cannot thank you enough for all the ideas and suggestions you've given me, and for letting me rant about the most inconsequential of things. You're amazing, and I am SO lucky we became friends :") Happy Friendships Day, love! **

**Word count: 1012**

* * *

Sirius looked at his best friend lying face down on his bed and, deciding that something was wrong, poked him violently in the side. James Potter jumped up from his half dead position with a scream, turning to look at his assailant. When he saw Sirius standing somewhat sheepishly off to the side, he looked at him with murder in his eyes but instead of attacking him back, as Sirius has expected, just rolled over and flopped back on the bed again.

Now Sirius knew for sure that something was wrong.

"Are you going to tell me what's troubling you or do I have to poke it out of you?" he commented.

James lifted his head just enough to glare weakly at the raven haired animagus. 'Go away, Sirius."

"Oooh, the first name. Must be really bad, eh?" Sirius drawled with one hand over his heart, a faux hurt expression on his face.

James finally got up from the bed and scowled at the other boy, who seemed utterly unfazed and had an expectant look on his face. "You're not gonna go away are you?"

"Nope," Sirius quipped, looking entirely too triumphant as he did.

James sighed resignedly before turning towards his bedside table and retrieving a folded piece of parchment from it. He tossed the offending piece of paper towards who caught it with one hand and turned away with his arms crossed across his chest and the beginnings of a pout on his face.

When he turned back to ask Sirius if he had finished reading through it, a highly indignant look entered his eyes when he saw that Sirius had his fist stuffed in his mouth in an effort to stifle his laughter and from the looks of it, was having a very hard time of it.

"Give that to me," James scowled, trying to grab the parchment from him. "If you came here just to laugh at me, you can go right back to where you came from."

"It-It-It's just Pr-Prongs have you ev-even read that?" Sirius replied, trying to speak through his laughter. "They-they want you to advertise Sleakeazys. _YOU!"_

James scowled harder as he heard that. "The absolute nerve of them, I tell you. I don't go one minute at home without hearing at least one 'oh honey, you never touch this bottle, it'll be so good for you' or 'do you really want to go out like that?" Yes, yes I do mother. I will go out like this and I will enjoy my life like this, dammit."

Sirius had managed to get his laughter under control by now and was just sitting on his own bed, listening to James with an amused smile on his face.

"And then dad, who's always just sitting there with that damned smile on his face, chimes in at the worst times, 'James, are you sure you're not just saying no because a 'certain someone' likes it so?' or 'how do you plan on getting a wife with hair like that?' and he has the gall to actually _wink_ at me, Sirius, as if he's oh so clever and has just given me the greatest solution ever."

He turned towards Sirius, who hastily wiped the smile off his face, and continued. "Did he not get married to mum with 'hair like that'? Did he not have exactly the same hair until the point he had designed this merlin forsaken product? Oh, yes, he did. But does he care about that? Ha, as if. He doesn't even want me to use the product, he just wants to torture me further in front of mum, and she NEVER notices him doing it and thinks he's just providing support which just gives her more support!" He took a deep breath and merely bulldozed on.

"Just the other day, we were having lunch and Mrs. Hallow and her daughter, Posey'-here, he made a face- 'came over, _completely uninvited,_ and started going on and on about the absolute _wonders_ of Sleakeazy's and what a complete fucking godsend it is. Dad's just revelling in the praise and attention like he always does and you know what mum does? Fucking _side eyes me in front of them_ like hello mum can you please not? And like the icing on top of the pumpkin pasty, Posey fucking Hallow sees her and asks me in that annoying voice of hers 'oh James, do you not use Sleakeazy's on that um hair of yours?' and she actually coughed in _that_ way, Pads, where you KNOW she's judging the shit out of you and I tell you, I have never been more offended in my life. Who was she, with her potion-dyed and magically enhanced hair to judge me and this wondrous mane of lush hair?"

Here, Sirius could no longer hold onto his laughter and burst out into loud guffaws that finally caught the irate boy's attention. James suddenly turned around at the sound of the sudden laughter and could only stare in disbelief at his best mate rolling around on the bed with his arm around his stomach and tears rolling down his cheek.

"Sirius!" he yelled, cheeks warming up slightly when he realized just how borderline ridiculous his ranting was.

It, however, had no effect on the other boy who was still laughing his ass off. A few seconds of bitter muttering on James' part later, Sirius started to slowly calm down. He turned to his own bedside drawer and quickly grabbed something out of it, making James look at him suspiciously.

Biting his lip slightly, Sirius withdrew his hand and presented James with a bottle of Sleakeazy's, making the other boy turn red and smack him over the head, leaving him dissolving in another fit of laughter.

"Ah, James, what would I ever do without you?" Sirius wheezed out between fits of laughter.

A small smile threatened to break through the scowl on his face looking at Sirius but before he could see it, James just turned away. Maybe he _did_ sound a little whiny back then.


	11. Dog Parks and Puppies

**This came about due to a conversation about dogs, Sirius Black and James Potter and an exclamation along the lines of 'surely this isn't unknown territory for us?'**

 **I do hope you like this, Anna :")**

 **Word count: 1945**

 **(20/10/17)**

* * *

"PRONGS, OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD," Sirius Black, usually calm and composed, was frantically hitting his best friend James Potter on the arm.

"Pads, OW!" James shrieked, quite uncharacteristically if one were to observe. "What. Is wrong with you?"

"Prongs! Puppy!" Sirius pointed at an adorable little Cocker Spaniel puppy that was bounding all around the little park that dog owners had claimed as their own.

James glanced in the direction of his best mate's outstretched hand, before turning to look at him with an incredibly unimpressed look on his face.

"That puppy, regardless of how adorable it is, is the reason why my arm was so thoroughly assaulted?" he deadpanned.

Sirius did not even have the grace to look ashamed, merely waving a hand to dismiss James. He turned back to look at the little ball of energy and excitement that was running around people's legs, provoking dogs far larger than it was and generally being a carefree whirlwind.

He sneered at James, the expression not having any bite to it, and turned back to run towards the puppy, who was seemingly alone.

"Hey, sweetheart," Sirius greeted as he kneeled in front of the puppy. She- from what he had gathered it was a female- had a gorgeous brick red coat that was just begging Sirius to run his hands through it.

Who was he to resist? He cautiously leaned forward, showing himself as a friend and not a threat, and allowed the excitable bundle to sniff his fingers before she declared him safe. Sirius smiled slightly before running his hands through the soft, luxurious fur. He lightly dragged his hands over her back until he reached the back of her ear, which he scratched until she was purring in delight before him, her tail wagging like crazy.

However, it seemed like she had other ideas because she soon barked and got out from under his hand, bounding around him with endless energy. She nipped at his knees, before turning the other way, a clear indication for him to follow her.

Laughing at her demanding nature, he got up and looked at her with a raised eyebrow as if to say, 'Well, lead the way then!"

The little one barked again and ran over to the little fountain that was in the centre of the park. She stood on the edge of it, just outside the range of the water, cautiously touching the water with one toe. She looked back at Sirius, who was watching her with an incredibly amused grin on his face.

Before he managed to invite any more of her displeasure, Sirius decided to make his way to the fountain.

When he got there, completely forgetting about James in the process, he looked at her with his arms crossed and a foot tapping the ground as if to say, 'now what?'

The little puppy yipped at him, before catching the fabric of his jeans between her teeth and dragging him towards the water.

He used the word dragging, but it was more like a hilarious attempt that looked more like a toddler trying to push his father off the bed but failing spectacularly.

Sirius laughed but just as he was about to step into the water after her, he heard a shout behind him.

"POLLYY! POLLY, NO!" He looked behind him and saw a cute blonde about his age running up to him. Without paying any attention to him, however, she leapt forward and grabbed the adorable little puppy, who was apparently called Polly, into her arms. Polly was, by now, thoroughly soaked which in turn made the mystery blonde woman's light yellow shirt go almost transparent.

Eyes going wide, Sirius quickly turned away before he saw something he shouldn't.

"Hi," the voice he had previously heard mid shout now came out much softer, and much more melodious. He quite liked it, Sirius decided.

"I'm so sorry about Polly, she keeps running away and I can't keep her still long enough to attach the leash to her collar," the woman apologised, a hint of red tinting her cheeks quite appealingly.

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Sirius replied, "I-Uh it's no problem, really. I love dogs and she's really quite adorable. I didn't mind at all."

"He's not lying, trust me," Before she could speak, another voice broke in. _James,_ Sirius scowled, _always the worst timing._ " He smacked my arm so many times when he saw her I think he left a mark."

The pretty blonde giggled, causing Sirius to scowl harder at James before he turned back to her.

"I-yeah. Anyway, I'm Sirius, pleasure to meet you," he introduced himself hastily, trying to divert her attention from his smirking best mate.

The woman smiled, "Likewise. I'm Anna. Nothing quite as astronomical about it, I'm afraid."

Sirius gaped at her, "Did you just-?"

James clapped his shoulder from behind. "I think she just did, mate." Turning to Anna, he said, "Not a minute and you've got this musclehead speechless. I already like you. I'm James."

Anna blinked at his rapid speech, just noticing how fast he spoke compared to those around him but smiled warmly at him. "I'm glad I have your approval...James."

James eyed her suspiciously, though one could see the mischief twinkling in his hazel eyes. "And what exactly do you need my approval for, ?"

Before she could say anything else, the neglected puppy in her arms saved her from answering what was sure to be a trick question by barking loudly.

Well, as loudly as a creature of her size could. Which was pretty damn loud.

Startled by the sudden sound, Sirius regained his speech again. "Wow. No one's ever related my name to astronomy before. They usually just write it off as a made up name two drunk hippies came up with to rebel against their parents."

Anna blinked again, but this time it was more incredulous. "That was….disturbingly specific."

Sirius grinned. "I edited it for your sake."

"Well, thank god for small mercies then," Anna shot back, making him stick his tongue out at her. She quite liked that tongue, if she was being honest. It looked nice and strong and... _totally not what she should be thinking about._

Shaking her head slightly to get rid of the thoughts swirling around her head, she asked, "So what brings you two here? From the sight of your empty hands, I don't think you have a dog."

Sirius pouted, "Doesn't mean we don't want one."

"We're here because this idiot dragged me here to come look at the dogs. He's kind of obsessed," James said, cocking his thumb at the raven haired man.

Anna leaned conspiratorially towards said man before speaking in a stage whisper. "Guess what, I'm kind of obsessed too." She drew back, winking at him.

She didn't know where this sudden confidence was coming from. Usually, she was much, _much_ more hesitant in approving strangers. Especially strangers that looked like they were carved by the creator himself.

She wasn't complaining, though. This was fun.

Just as Sirius opened his mouth to say something, Polly barked again, and started wiggling around in her arms. Anna sighed, she should've known her dog wouldn't stay still for long. She fished around in the pocket of her coat for the leash, intending to attach it to Polly's collar even if she had to ask for help from the two men in front of her when Sirius' voice interrupted her actions.

"How about you let her go like that and instead of putting her on a leash, all three of us can play with her? I'm sure she just needs to burn off some of that energy that comes with her young age. She couldn't be older than a few months, am I right?"

Anna looked at him in slight awe. Attractive _and_ had a great knowledge of dogs? She should've known she was a goner when she saw him getting ready to splash in the fountain with Polly.

"I-Yeah. Just about 8 months now, actually. And, if you're sure you guys don't mind, I guess I could let her be…," she added hesitantly, not wanting to force them into something they didn't want to do. Of course, Sirius was the one who brought the idea up but still.

"Nah, Prongs and I are cool with this," Sirius shrugged, casually smacking James over the head when he made to protest.

Anna almost snorted at that but managed to disguise the sound as a cough and nodded.

"Well, if you say so."

—-

After almost an hour of goofing around like never before, Anna had come to the conclusion that she'd met the perfect man.

Of course she could be biased, but _come on,_ he liked puppies, he had wavy black hair that she knew by experience was incredibly soft to touch (there was some grass in his hair from rolling around on the ground with Polly and when the opportunity to shake them away presented itself to her, who was she to refuse?), his grey eyes were fucking beautiful and from the sliver of skin she'd seen of his stomach when his shirt had ridden up hinted at a body that she was sure was the work of Gods.

In addition to that he was really sweet, almost sickeningly so at times (which she quickly deduced was an attempt to mess with her, which she didn't quite mind as much as he probably hoped she would) and he didn't really care what others thought of him judging by the downright insane things he had engaged in, uncaring of the glances and looks he was getting.

Before her thoughts could wander any further, however, Polly bounded up to her barking and yipping. She laughed and knelt down to cup her face in her hands, squeezing gently.

"Hey sweetheart," she cooed, scratching Polly under her chin and smiling when her tongue lolled immediately lolled out at the action. She loved it when people scratched her there.

Suddenly, Anna felt a presence beside her and when she turned to look, she came face to face with Sirius Black kneeling on the ground in all his six-foot glory. Anna gulped when she realized her sudden movement had caused her to be quite close to him. So close in fact that she could see that his eyes weren't just one solid grey, but they were a mix of different shades of grey, swirling together to create a beautiful picture.

She couldn't help it, she blushed. She wasn't used to being scrutinized by someone in such close proximity. In fact, she wasn't used to being scrutinized at all.

"You look adorable like that, you know?" Sirius cocked his head to the side and Anna bit her lip at the intensity of his gaze.

"Thank you," she said, not even realizing her hands had stilled in Polly's fur until she bit her finger, causing her to wince slightly.

Seeing this, Sirius picked Polly up and started tickling her. "We don't bite people, Polly, no we don't. It's not civilized, you see. Very bad manners."

Anna couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Sirius talking to her dog like she was some recalcitrant child in need of etiquette classes. Did she mention how much she found his love for dogs endearing? Because she did. Quite a bit.

"He's something else, isn't he?" James commented suddenly, startling her as she hadn't heard him come up to her. He smirked at her knowingly, as if he knew just what she was so engrossed in.

Anna smiled softly, "He is."


	12. Boggarts

**This is something I've had in my drafts for _months_ and the only reason I've been able to finish it is because of Anna, who helped me out so much. So basically, the whole thing is dedicated to her because she was the one who got this back on track. **

**Hope you guys enjoy this, do tell me what you thought and constructive criticism is always welcome :")**

 **Written for, Romania- (character) Remus Lupin**

 **Word count: 2727**

Remus was laughing at the animated story Sirius was telling him when it happened. Sirius' arms were flailing about as he tried to explain exactly how he was almost hugged to death by the Giant Squid and how it was _most certainly_ _ **not**_ _his fault that he was so irresistible._

"I am telling you, Moony, the squid does it on purpose!" Sirius exclaimed in indignation.

Remus snorted at his dramatic tone of voice, "I'm sure it does, Pads. Are you going to say that it wants to snog you next?"

Sirius shuddered at his words, pretending to retch. "I swear, you're more unhelpful than a knight of armour. Pity James had to stay back with Evans. I know he would've been a whole lot better company than you are." And he stuck his tongue out as a faux offended Remus put his hand over his heart.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, though, they heard rattling and banging coming from their left.

The two sixth years looked at each other and it took less than a second for them to move, as if they were one, towards the partially closed classroom they could hear the sounds coming from. It sounded a lot like some poor sod locked in a cupboard. In which case, they wanted to help because both of them knew all too well how _that_ felt.

As they reached the classroom, Remus,slightly earlier than Sirius, they looked around for the source of noise. It was Sirius who tugged at his sleeve, pointing at a rattling vanity drawer pushed towards the corner. Knowing that it wasn't possible for even the tiniest first year to be stuck in that thing, and hoping that students weren't cruel enough to make them, they cautiously walked towards the offending object, wands in their hand.

This time, it was Sirius who reached the drawer first, not allowing Remus to be near it unless he had checked it out, despite the other boy being taller and broader. His overprotectiveness was legendary among those who knew him, hence why Remus didn't bother doing anything more than sighing in resignation at his best friend's actions. He knew he wouldn't be able to argue successfully with him, and so let him do his thing, all the while keeping his wand defensively in front of him as well, ready to attack should something come of out of the drawer.

As soon as Sirius jerked his wand to silently open the rattling drawer, something greyish black in color and having no distinct shape flew out of it, high up in the air, making both the boys clutch their wands tighter. It slowly turned from the smoke like thing it was into a solid being, which was about the time Remus understood what this was.

"Sirius! No, get ba-!" He tried to warn the younger boy, who was looking at the thing with equal parts apprehensions and confusion.

But it was too late as the boggart had already transformed into an Older Sirius who looked eerily similar to the real Sirius but had quite some striking differences as well. He was taller, not as skinny either. His mouth was twisted in a cruel sneer, not unlike the one his cousin Bellatrix usually wore, and his stormy grey eyes held emotions Remus fervently wished never to see in his friend.

They were glinting with malice, and sadistic amusement. Amusement, it was made clear to Remus as he forced his eyes to look at what the Boggart Sirius' wand was pointed at, aimed towards the writhing body on the floor. A body, he realized with growing horror, that belonged to none other than James Potter. It looked as if the Potter Heir had gone through more than a few rounds of the Cruciatus put upon him.

It was at this moment that Boggart Sirius decided to speak. "Like that, Potter? It's something I created just for you." His voice was filled with hate and arrogance.

Boggart James looked up, something that was quite painful for him to do by the looks of it. When he spoke, drops of blood spattered onto the floor. "Si-Sirius no-no. Thi-this isn't you. You know that. It's me, Prongs, your best mate, come on. You're not like them, Pads." His words were pleading, broken, just like he seemed to be. This, however, had no effect on Boggart Sirius who simply gave out a cruel laugh that made Remus wince.

"You think I care about you, Potter? You think I care what a mudblood-loving blood traitor like you says? No. I finally realized my worth, and you? You are worth less than the dirt under my feet. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

" _NOOOOOOOO."_ The anguished scream came not from the Boggart James who had just been cursed, but the boy on his left which reminded Remus that he wasn't alone, and he cursed himself for forgetting that Sirius was there, especially during something like this. He looked around him and saw that Sirius had fallen to his knees, his arms outstretched, fingers grabbing at the air, as if trying to get back the Boggart that had somehow vanished.

At once, Remus dropped down beside his best friend, wrapping his arms around him, trying to comfort him as much as he could. He knew it was futile though, no one other than James had ever seen Sirius display his emotions without his usual guard up and one look at the younger Marauder told Remus that the other boy was dangerously close to a breakdown and wouldn't appreciate anyone seeing him in such a state.

He held Sirius firmly, and pulled him up to his feet, mentally thinking of all the shortcuts he could take to get to Gryffindor Tower faster, knowing that was where James would be right now. He quickly, but gently, carried Sirius with him, who by now, realizing that he wasn't in a deserted classroom anymore, had stopped crying and made sure to remove any traces of having done so and the cold mask he had perfected in his childhood came over his face, blocking all emotions and keeping his face stoic, making sure no one saw them. In what seemed like years, but was actually five minutes, they reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password," she said in her usual flowery voice, tinged with a slight hint of confusion at seeing Sirius Black burrowed into Remus' shoulder.

"Wanglewort," Remus replied tightly, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, and hoping the Fat Lady would just _open the door dammit._

Luckily for him, the portrait door swung open as soon as the last syllable was out of his mouth. Remus climbed through it, still supporting Sirius, silently thanking Merlin the Common Room was almost empty, today being a Sunday.

He wildly looked around for James, when he spotted him near the fireplace with his feet hanging off the edge of the armchair he was sitting on. He was too relieved to even notice Lily glaring at James as she attempted to get him to pay attention to some schedule.

"Prongs!" He called out in a strangled voice, not wanting Lily to get a chance to see Sirius like this. "Prongs, Sirius needs you."

At those words, James' head immediately shot up, and when he saw the emotionless expression on his best mate's face, he immediately knew something was wrong. He jumped off the couch, ignoring Lily's indignant shout for him to come back and do his work. He was at Sirius' side in an instant, his hands going up to cradle the younger boy's face with extreme tenderness.

"What happened, Moony?" He asked in a soft voice, not able to see his brother like this, knowing that in the handful of times he had seen Sirius in such a state, his wretched family was _always_ responsible for it.

"I-I can-can't. It's better if you see it, Prongs. It's not something I can explain. Hell, I myself don't know what happened." Remus ran a hand through his hair as James looked at him in shock. He could understand why; he had basically given him permission to enter his mind. James' eyes seemed to ask 'that bad?', to which Remus could only nod.

Slowly, James got up, his left hand never shifting from Sirius' face while his right gripped his wand, somewhat shakily, as if afraid of what was to come.

He pointed his wand at Remus, ignoring the gasps coming from behind, and spoke clearly, " _Legilimens."_ Immediately, he saw various images passing in front of his eyes, disregarding them for the specific memory he wanted. As soon as he the thought crossed his mind, Remus' mind supplied him with it. When he saw what had happened in the unused classroom on the fourth floor just ten minutes prior, he closed his eyes in anguish, now knowing exactly what had affected his best friend so badly. It was his two worst fears combined into one, no wonder Sirius was reduced to such a mess.

Gathering himself enough to exit Remus' mind, he flashed the werewolf a grateful smile for he had seen the way he had shielded the younger boy from prying eyes. He then lifted the boy in question bridal style in his arms, heart breaking a little to realize that he could still do it with absolutely no hindrance, and carried him up to their dorm.

As soon as James walked out of sight, Remus collapsed on the armchair James had previously occupied with a large sigh, fingers running over his face in an attempt to understand what just happened. He knew how much Sirius loathed the Blacks, everyone did, he even knew that his worst fear was ending up as bigoted and cruel as them. However, James in that scene didn't quite fit in until Remus thought of all the times he had seen the Potter and Black heirs together. Their behaviour was always slightly different around each other. While no one could deny that all four of the marauders were as close as could be, there was just something a little extra in their friendship, something that most people only dreamt of achieving. It was no surprise then, Remus concluded, that Sirius' worst fear would be James dying. In fact, he was almost sure that if he put a boggart in front of James, it would turn into an image of Sirius dying, with James not being able to do anything to help him. Despite all the horrors they'd seen, and knew the world to be capable of, their worst fears would always be each other dying.

"Honestly. I don't know what Professor McGonagall was thinking assigning actual responsibility to Potter," An irritated voice spoken beside him startled him out of his thoughts and he turned around to see Lily Evans, frustration swimming in her bright green eyes.

Remus cocked his head in question. "What's wrong, Lily?"

'What's wrong?" she repeated bitingly. "James Potter is what's wrong. That boy can't sit down for one minute to do some actual work. It's not been a week since the term has started and he's already off frolicking with Black."

Remus blinked in shock at her acidic words. Had she not seen the way James had to carry Sirius in his arms? When he repeated the same to her, she gave him a blank look.

"I'm telling you, Remus, all they're doing up there is plotting their next prank. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a way to get him out of his duties. I just asked him to give me a schedule for his Quidditch tryouts so it doesn't clash with other things, but no. That's too hard for the Almighty James Potter." Lily scowled.

Remus, however, knew he couldn't stay there much longer and listen to her talk that way without blurting out Sirius' current state to her and knowing how grave a mistake that would be, chose to quietly make his excuses and leave, mind still whirling with images of Sirius and his boggart.

* * *

Upstairs, James had managed to lay Sirius down on his bed and sat down beside him. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and with his other hand lifted Sirius' head so he was looking directly into his closed-off grey eyes. Grey eyes that were usually alight with mischief were now dead. There was no other way to describe it.

There were so many shields around them, so many layers that James couldn't see _anything_ and it was making him panic. Sirius' eyes were _always_ expressive, even if it is just twinkling with mischief. They were never closed off and that scared him more than anything.

"Padfoot," he called, rocking his shoulder gently in an attempt to draw his attention. It didn't work.

"Sirius," he spoke more firmly this time. This time, Sirius looked at him, though his eyes were still unfocused and hazy, making James shiver.

"Sirius, listen to me. What you saw in there; It. Wasn't. True," he made sure to enunciate each word, wanting Sirius to know what he was saying.

But the other boy just blinked, showing no signs of even listening to his voice. James sighed, knowing there was one thing he could do but not liking the fact that he had to do it. Any other time and he would've done without complaint, even happily, but not when Sirius was in such a state.

He pulled his hand back and slapped the raven-haired boy hard on his right cheek.

It worked, because Sirius started spluttering, eyes blinking rapidly and fingers shaking. James quickly placed his hands on Sirius', interlacing their fingers together to slow the trembling. He looked into Sirius' eyes, heart breaking when he saw the panic and the fear and the self-loathing in those grey eyes that were always so cheerful.

"Padfoot," he whispered painfully, not being able to see his brother like this. "Padfoot, _it's okay."_

"I-I-I-It's no-no-not, Pr-Prongs. I-I, I ki-ki," he broke off at that, his fear making him stutter badly.

"Padfoot, I know what you saw, and I'm telling you right now, that's not you. You would never do something like that."

Sirius immediately started shaking his head rapidly, "No no no no no no, you-you don't know that. It's, It's a very real possibility, Prongs. I-I have every chance of turning into, into _that._ "

James' heart broke at the sheer, raw fear that he heard in his best mate's voice. He closed his eyes tightly for just a moment, taking in a deep breath because it would not do for him to break down right now, not when Sirius needed him.

"Sirius, listen to me," he said firmly. When he did, he continued, "I know you better than anyone else, and I know that there is no chance at all that you _ever_ turn out like them. I know how much you hate them, how much you loathe their principles. And I know how hard you try to be as different from as possible."

"But James, that's what I grew up with, there is no guarantee-" Sirius tried again but James wasn't going to let him even say something like that.

"No," he interrupted. "There is a guarantee that you won't end up like them. And it's right in front of me. This..this remorse, and this fear is what makes you not like them. Do you think you have cared about what you saw had you been even remotely like them? Do you think you would have reacted like this if there was any chance of _that_ ever happening?"

At his words, Sirius hung his head, his black hair forming a curtain around his face. He didn't say anything else, but his arms hesitantly came up to wrap around James' waist.

James smiled, and wrapped his own arms around him, wishing he could protect his brother like this all the time. "I know it's hard to believe, Padfoot. But I refuse to have you thinking you're even remotely similar to...to those _monsters."_

"In fact, at this point," James grinned, "you're more of a Potter than a Black, what with all that recklessness and impulsive bravery."

James' heart warmed when he saw Sirius' lips twitching at that, secure in the knowledge that they would get past this.


	13. A Tattooed Anna

**So, um, Anna remember when I said I was working on something when we were talking about James and Sirius and you and me? Well, this is kind of it :3**

 **It's a tattoo parlour!AU and it's way different to what/how I usually write so I hope you like it. I actually really like James here, and I hope y'all do too :")**

 **Constructive criticism is always appreciated :")**

 **Also for, Estonia- (word) exquisite**

 **Halloween- Treat- idiotic**

 **Word count: 3780**

 **(31/10/17)**

Anna took a long, deep breath as she stood outside the innocent looking brick building, a door with the 'Open' side flashing at her in front of her.

She had wanted this for quite a while, she had fought a lot to be here and while she had anticipated that she would lose her nerve once she got there, she didn't think she would lose it without even _entering the goddamned place._

That thought irked her, and the extremely stubborn part of her mind huffed. Was she really going to back out of something just because she _thought_ it might be bad and painful and something she'd regret later on?

 _Well, she'd do this,_ she decided firmly with a determined nod of her head, _any possible regrets be damned._

And with a confidence that was previously lacking in her step, she pushed the door open and entered the tattoo parlor.

The inside smelt like how she imagined a hospital might along with faint traces of ink and a sort of musky feeling. After a second of some surreptitious sniffing, she decided she quite liked it.

As she took a step forward, a voice called out to her.

"Hello! How can I help you today?"

She turned towards the speaker and had to make a conscious effort to not let her jaw drop to the floor beneath.

Standing in front of her was a man around her age, with messy black hair that quite literally stuck up in all directions, defying the laws of gravity in every which way. His hazel colored eyes were adorned by a pair of round spectacles that Anna had never quite liked but on this man, they looked better than should have been legal. His right ear was pierced in at least 3 places, from what she could see. His lips, adorned with a pair of snake bites that were _entirely too sinful_ in her opinion, were pulled up in a welcoming smile.

He was standing behind a counter, wiping his hands with a rag and from her angle, she could see he was dressed in a muscle tank that showed off his bulging muscles. Pale as fuck, but built like a damned machine. Exactly her type. She could see tattoos going down the whole length of his right arm, ending right at his wrist.

He was incredibly fucking hot.

And for someone who was such a self-proclaimed wimp, she sure did like this tattooed, pierced hunk of a man.

"Hello?" The man called again, sound a bit amused this time. His voice was a deep, smooth baritone and it was actually quite pleasant to listen to.

Anna flushed, "I-uh sorry, I was just...you know…" She waved aimlessly in his general direction, not quite sure what to say, which just seemed to amuse him more.

"That's okay," Thankfully, he let it go, "are you here for a tattoo?"

At that, her eyes took on the determined sheen again and she nodded resolutely. "Yes, I am. It's my first time, however, so I'll be needing quite a bit of guidance….?"

At her unspoken question, the man shook his head and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm James, James Potter." He held out a hand for her to shake, which she did so willingly. A little _too_ willingly, if she was being honest.

"Anna," she replied. His hand was warm and calloused, and rough and her mind immediately went to places it definitely shouldn't be going to in the presence of someone she had _just_ met, regardless of how attractive they were.

The man- James- smiled, "I'd be glad to help you in any way you want. In fact, you're in luck because I don't have any other appointments for today so if you're willing we can discuss what you want today, and if you think you're ready and have come to a decision, we can even get started on the actual tattoo today. What do you say?"

At his words, Anna's previous nervousness hit her in full force. Her palm started sweating so she quite hastily pulled it back from James' grasp, giving him an apologetic smile as she did.

"I'm sorry, I'm just...really nervous," she explained, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay, really," James said kindly, "It's normal to feel this way for your first time."

Anna bit her lip as the unintentional innuendo in his words hit her and by the way he closed his eyes as if in pain and shook his head in resignation, he had realized it too.

Before he could say anything, or before _she_ did something to make the situation awkward, she quickly said, "I have a very rough idea of what I want, so how about we sit down and you guide me through this whole thing?"

James nodded at that and turned to shift a curtain to the side, revealing a little office behind him. He gestured for her to enter, and followed her in when she did.

Sitting down on a comfortable chair, she took another deep breath. She could do this right?

"So, what did you have in mind?" James asked when he was settled himself.

"Uh, so I was thinking something really simple and minimal for the first time? Like, I don't want to get too excited and go overboard and then come to regret it, you know?" Anna replied, a little nervous.

"Ah, I get that. It's a good decision, actually. Most people get so caught up in the excitement of getting their first tattoo that they choose a design that really isn't ideal, and then they have all these regrets later on, it's really sad," James agreed, shaking his head.

Anna smiled lightly. "Exactly, I don't want that. I want to be able to look at my tattoo when I'm old and wrinkly with exactly the kind of excitement I have right now."

Shrugging at the slightly amazed look he sent her way, she continued, "I don't want anything written, at least not this time. I was thinking something related to my love for books maybe? What do you say?"

She could see he was mulling over her words thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea, actually. Choosing something that's close to your heart is always a good place to start. It will almost always guarantee no regrets."

Smiling, Anna nodded. "So I was thinking something like a book that's open to a new chapter? I'm not quite sure how that'll work but it can signify a new beginning as well. Putting the past behind and all that."

All of a sudden, James beamed at her. "I've got the perfect idea. Wait just a second." With that, he got off the stool he was sitting on and went behind _another_ curtain.

While he was gone, Anna looked around curiously. She was obviously sat in his office, if the semi-formal decor was anything to go by. Noticing some photographs on the table, she leaned forward to get a closer look.

Most of them had James with another guy who was just as attractive as him. He had raven hair, a nose ring, quite a number of tattoos and from the one picture where he had his tongue stuck out, a tongue piercing as well.

There were others too. A beautiful girl with fiery red hair and bright green eyes and a sandy-haired guy were laughing along with the other two in another picture. The last one was James, the raven-haired guy and two older people who looked remarkably like James, leading her to believe they were-

"My parents," James' voice startled her out of her thoughts as she reared back quickly, shooting him an apologetic look. "That's my parents, and my best mate, Sirius."

Anna bit her lip, but didn't quite know what to say to that. She was saved from answering, however, when James came to sit down in front of her and spoke.

"So, I was talking to Sirius some time ago, and he's really into books. He wanted a new tattoo so we sat down and came up with this design. I think this might be what you're looking for," he explained while opening a black notepad to the design.

"Oh, but if it's a design you came up for him, how could I take it?" Anna exclaimed, a little bit of dismay leaking into her tone because she had seen the design and it was _gorgeous._

"That's no issue," James waved his hand, "If you don't mind having the same tattoo as someone else, then he won't either. I've already done this for him and it came out as pretty gorgeous, if I'm being honest. He told me I could use this for anyone who wants to."

When she still looked worried, James said, "Well, would it make you feel better if I called him up and asked him what he thinks? You don't have to worry about him saying something just to be polite because he's not the type to do that."

Looking hopeful, Anna nodded eagerly. She had fallen in love with the design. It began with around 4-5 birds in a 'v' shape which, as they came closer, turned out be books in varying stages of being open, finally tumbling down onto a stack of books.

She realized that were she to go through with this, it would mean a world of pain because it _wasn't_ a small tattoo at all but she was completely up for it. This was exactly what she came for.

Looking amused, James took out his phone from a nearby drawer and quickly called Sirius, putting the phone on speaker.

Over the ringing noise, Anna quickly apologized to James, "I'm really sorry for making you do all this but it's just...I don't really want to steal someone else's design you know?"

James shook his head, "It's alright. I actually respect you more for this, actually. While I try my best not to do it, I know there are a lot of tattoo artists who willingly steal designs, even from people they know, and then show them to clients."

Anna smiled, and just then a deep voice that was not James' spoke.

"Prongs, you wanker!"

James immediately looked at Anna with something like panic in his eyes, which did not make any sense.

"Padfoot, not now!" he exclaimed into the phone. Anna assumed he was the 'Prongs' and Sirius the 'Padfoot'.

"Oh, it will be right now," the voice snarled, "how fucking dare you-"

"Sirius, you're on speaker!" James cried and this time the panic was coating his words. Even though she shouldn't be, Anna was highly amused at what was happening before her. It was quite clear that Sirius was going to say something, probably very incriminating, and James didn't want him to do it in front of a client.

"Good for you, then," Sirius muttered darkly. "How dare you cover all my pants with itching powder just before I had to go on a date huh? Have you forgotten The Code altogether or do you just not care?"

Forgetting herself for a second, Anna burst out laughing, both at what Sirius had just said, the mental image provided by his words and the extremely defeated look on James' face when he said it.

"Itch-It-Iching p-powder?" she wheezed out through her laughter, aware that the voice from the phone had quietened completely and James was staring at her in growing horror.

"Hello?" came Sirius' voice again, when she had managed to calm herself down.

"Who is this?"

"It's a client, Padfoot," James said tiredly, though Anna could see he wasn't really all that bothered, leading her to believe that he had expected him to do something like this.

"Ah, well, I'm not going to apologize to you if that's what you're after," Sirius said. "Although I am sorry you had to hear that, sweetheart."

Anna blinked when she realized he had spoken to her, "Oh it's uh, it's no problem."

"Judging by your previous laughter, I'll believe you on that," he replied dryly, though it was laced with amusement.

Anna grinned sheepishly at that, even though he couldn't see her.

"Right, anyway," James cleared his throat, "Moving past that. Padfoot, Anna here wanted to know if you'd be alright with letting me use that design we came up with a week ago."

"The ones with the birds transforming into the books?"

"That one, yes."

"Yeah, sure. I told you I wouldn't mind if you put it in your pamphlets."

"Well, Anna wasn't so sure about that so she asked me to ask you if you were truly okay with it."

Sirius laughed heartily at that, making Anna blush bright red. She did feel a little silly for making James do all this but she didn't regret it. She knew wouldn't have been able to go through with this if she wasn't sure Sirius was okay with it.

"Well, since you're on speaker, I'll tell her myself," he replied after a few seconds. "I really don't mind if you use the design, Anna. In fact, I would love it if you do. Maybe we can even meet up and compare it one day. I'll finally be able to prove that Prongs does my tattoos just a little bit more sloppily than he does for others." The last line had James glaring sourly at the phone.

Giggling slightly, she replied, "Thank you so much. It really is a beautiful design, which was all the more reason why I wanted to confirm with you."

She could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, "I'm glad you did. It's nice to know that you won't stand for using something that is someone else's hard work without permission. It's impressive."

"Since that's done," James cut in, looking at her, "I think we can get started on the tattoo, yes?"

Anna nodded quickly, the excitement creeping back into her.

"I'll see you later," James directed to Sirius.

"Oh, you will," he promised in a tone that said he was hiding something. James only rolled his eyes at that.

"Hope everything works well for you, Anna! Tell James to take a picture so I can see," he finished.

"I will, thank you so much once again," Anna replied cheerfully.

"It was no problem," he said, before cutting the phone.

As soon as he did, she looked up at James, waiting for him to tell her what to do next.

"Before anything else," he started, "I would just ask that you ignore everything that happened in the last 5 minutes. Minus the permission of course, because then we would have to call him again and that is not something I want to do."

"If you say so. You won't bring out the itching powder if I refuse, though, will you?" she teased, sucking her lips in to keep from giggling.

James groaned and lightly bashed his head on the wall beside him, "I swear to god, that idiotic man will be the end of me."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. In the last five minutes, we just discussed the design I'd be getting and you convinced me that your friend does not mind me using it, correct?" Anna held her hands up in surrender, though her eyes were twinkling with amusement.

James shook his head ruefully. "Correct. Now, since you're happy with this, I think we can get started on the actual tattoo. It'll take about 5 hours in one sitting, or you could divide it over the next couple days. Which would you prefer?"

Anna cocked her head to the side, "I think I'd get it all done today. I can't trust myself to not chicken out if I had to come here two, three days in a row."

"I think you give yourself much less credit that you deserve," James commented as he stood up, motioning for her to follow him.

"And how would you know that? We only just met," she asked curiously.

"I've been doing this for some time now. I can usually figure out which ones will back off and which ones will stick through the pain. You," he turned to point at her, "are of the latter kind."

"You're going to bear the pain, if only because you're stubborn and want to prove a point."

Anna looked at him with her jaw agape and when she spoke, it was in a tone full of awe and wonder, "How did you-?"

He smiled, the stud on the left side of his lip glinting in the light, "I told you; I can figure people out pretty well."

Anna looked at him with narrowed eyes, but let it go as she entered the room she would be getting her tattoo in. Taking a deep breath, she took in her surroundings and was pleasantly surprised to see it was customized to make one feel comfortable and relaxed.

The walls were a soothing light blue color, with black detailing. The chair on which she was to sit wasn't like one of those metal contraptions she had seen in movies and pictures, but something that looked really comfortable.

There was light music playing in the background and overall it was a really cozy atmosphere that almost instantly put her at ease.

"This is amazing," she turned to face James, who was setting up the equipment, "I'm actually amazed at how comfortable I feel in here."

"That's a job well done then," James grinned, making Anna's heart skip a beat at how fucking sexy he looked just then, "If I could even make one person less nervous, then well, I consider it a good day."

As he said it, Anna could see the passion and love for his work in his eyes and her lips lifted in a fond smile. She walked forward to sit down on the chair when he had finished setting everything up and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

James came and sat in front of her on a stool, giving her a nice, close view of his face. Well, at least she would be suitably distracted during this whole thing if he was going to be so close to her, she thought.

"Not going to lie, this is probably gonna- excuse my language- sting like a bitch," James warned her while rubbing alcohol over the length of her forearm.

Anna shrugged lightly, "That's what I prepared myself for."

"Atta girl," he murmured as he gently picked up the tattoo gun and placed it against her skin. It was quite cool to the touch and she had to stop the slight shiver that went through her at the contact.

"Ready?" James asked, his gorgeous hazel eyes looking into her her.

Taking another deep breath, Anna nodded.

* * *

Whistling lightly through her teeth, Anna gazed down at her arm in wonder. It had taken just under 5 hours for the whole thing to be done and she wasn't ashamed to admit that she had teared up a bit at the halfway mark when her whole arm was numb but burning at the same time.

But it was over now, and she had walked away with something that she was quite sure she'd never get sick of seeing even fifty years into the future.

She bit her lip to contain a squeal of happiness and turned to James, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and looking at her with his lips quirked up in a smile.

"This is fucking _exquisite_ , thank you so so so much for this!" she beamed.

James pushed himself off the wall and made his way towards her, "It was an absolute pleasure, Anna. You were amazing to work with. I do hope you come back again for another one." He winked at her when he said the last line, making her blush and nod her head.

"Oh yeah, I think I'll definitely come back again. Despite the pain, this has been one of the best things I've done," Anna promised.

"So, I've told you everything you have to do to take care of this. If you stick to it, I don't think you'll have any problems but just in case you do, don't hesitate to come straight here okay? Even if you think it's nothing, it's better to be safe than sorry," James said.

"I will, don't worry. I have no intentions of neglecting this for a second," Anna replied, smiling down at her tattoo before she looked back up at James.

"I think I'll leave then. It's been a long time and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay up," she confessed, already moving towards the door.

Before she could open the door, however, James quickly moved forward and did it for her. When she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly.

"Only the best for my client," he said cheekily, making her shake her head at him. In the past so many hours, she had discovered that James Potter had a mischievous, playful personality and was just a pleasure to be around.

"You're going in a cab right?" James asked after a second, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"I'm sure," Anna assured him, "It's nothing to worry about. In fact, there's the cab right there." And she pointed at the car that had just come to a halt in front of them.

James nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets as he took a step back. "Well, I wish you the best of luck with your tattoo then. I hope I see you again."

"I hope I see you again too," Anna replied and before she could lose her nerve, she quickly stepped forward and gave him a one-armed hug, making sure to keep her freshly tattooed arm out of reach. She could feel she had startled him by his delayed reaction but when his arms did come up to wrap themselves around her, it was all she could do to not close her eyes and just go to sleep in his arms right there.

They were strong and cozy and gave her the most wonderful feeling ever and she felt like she didn't want to leave at all but she had to. So after a few delicious seconds, she stepped back, shot James an embarrassed smile and quickly sat down in the cab.

She waved at James as the car started, and smiled when he did the same. When they had rounded the corner, she looked down at her tattoo and her heart warmed at the amazing work.

She was definitely coming back here again.


	14. Older Brother

**So I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to do here, but I'm happy with how it came out :")**

 **Here's to hoping you guys are too ;)**

 **Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

 **Word count: 1176**

"Sirius." At the sound of his name, the raven-haired boy turned around. While on the outside he looked like he had not a care in the world, on the inside his emotions were raging.

"Regulus," he said evenly. Although he didn't show it, he was confused. Confused that his broth- that Regulus was actually willingly talking to him in public. That he wasn't sneering at him and looking at him with hesitance.

"Can I," he gulped audibly; another surprising move for the usually composed Slytherin- "Can we talk?" His eyes travelled over James standing protectively beside Sirius and he added, "In private?"

Sirius bit his lip. On one hand, Regulus had made his decision, he had chosen the side he wanted to fight for. But on the other, this was his _brother,_ he couldn't just ignore him like that, despite whatever he'd done.

Sirius turned to James, who was watching him silently. "Cover for me in Transfig, will you, Prongs? I'll be there soon."

James didn't say anything, just nodded. That was why Sirius loved him. He knew when to not ask questions, when to let something go. He knew that Sirius needed to do this and therefore, let him.

Sirius managed to smile at him in an attempt to reassure him, but he figured it didn't work. The last time he had talked to Regulus, he was covered in blood and hexed to near death by their parents. He was, therefore, not quite sure how to act around him now.

Regulus bit his lip for a split second before turning onto his heel and walking into an empty classroom just a few steps away from where they were standing. A part of Sirius wondered if this was pre-planned but he didn't dwell on that train of thought. Mostly because he didn't know what he would do if it turned out it was.

"Okay, what's up?" Adopting a nonchalant attitude, Sirius walked over to the teacher's desk and leaned against it.

Regulus took a deep breath before blurting out, "I don't want to do this, Siri."

It took all the self composure that had quite literally been _beaten_ into him for Sirius to stop his jaw from dropping.

"What do you mean by 'this'?" he asked cautiously, keeping an iron clad hold on his emotions, not letting any sort of hope blossom.

"This-this life, Sirius! I know I didn't say anything tha-that day, but that was not because I supported _them,"_ he spat the word 'them' like it was burning his very mouth to say those words. "I was, I was too confused, too scared to say anything. I didn't know what to do. Moth-Mother always wanted obedience and I was only too happy to give it to her. I didn't know how to be anything but obedient, Sirius, I need you to believe that," Identical grey eyes turned to Sirius, begging and pleading.

Sirius took a step forward, his arm raised as if he wanted to just grab his brother into a tight hug, wanting to protect him from everything, but he resisted. He had to clench his fist to keep from making contact.

"Did," Sirius gulped, his throat suddenly dry, "Did they do any-anything to you?"

He swore to Merlin and back, if they touched a single hair on Regulus' hair, they would regret it til the day they died.

"NO!" Regulus denial was unhesitant and loud. "No, they wouldn't dare to hurt their precious son, the one who is destined to follow in their footsteps, licking at the coattails of a monster like some sort of a simpering sycophant."

His words were bitter, and contained a hint of a sneer that was so, _so_ familiar that Sirius had to choke a laugh back. While he would never admit it, at least not to the boy in front of him, he had missed that pretentious sneer and that bite in his voice.

"What are you planning on doing then?" Sirius asked, not quite seeing where this was going.

"That is exactly the thing; I have no idea," Regulus gripped his hair tightly, face screwing up in frustration.

"I need to get out of that house, Siri. I can't stay there anymore," Here a hint of fear entered his voice; the first sign that he was afraid.

"I'm scared they'll kill me if I refuse to do their bidding anymore."

Sirius' heart clenched at his words. He closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath, willing his stomach to calm down and his brain to start working.

When he opened his eyes a few seconds later, it was with a much clearer mind. "Okay, we have to think this through, Reg. You know they won't let you get away easily. The only reason I got away was because they didn't want or expect me to stay anyway. They had you. But if you leave, they'll be left with no one and their precious groomed son doing that is not something they would just roll over and accept."

Regulus nodded seriously. "I know. I've gone through all this hundreds of times in my head. I have exhausted all my options and I see no way I can get out of this alive."

Sirius took a step forward and placed his hand on Regulus' shoulder, squeezing tightly. Desperately.

"Don't-Don't say that," he choked out. The thought of Regulus not being there was one he wasn't willing to even let enter his mind. "We'll find a way, we'll get you out of there. If nothing else, I'll take you to James' place and keep you hidden there. If by some chance, his parents are not okay with it, which is highly unlikely, we can run away. I already know how to Apparate and both of us have our own vaults. We'll make it." He nodded resolutely as he spoke, wanting to keep a strong front for his brother, knowing he could break down when he was back in his dorm.

"Sirius," Regulus whispered brokenly, "Sirius, I-How will I ever make up for treating you as I have? How can you ever forgive me?"

"Oh, Reg," Sirius breathed before wrapping his arms tightly around the younger boy like he had been aching to do so for so long. He tucked his head in the crook of his neck and just wished he could always protect his brother like this.

"Reg, I can never not forgive you. You-You're my younger brother, I'll always be there for you."

"I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm sorry," Regulus said, holding on just as tightly to Sirius.

"It's okay, Reg, I forgive you," Sirius assured him, "We'll find a way through this, we'll make sure you not only come out alive, but strong enough that you'll be able to spit on _their_ faces one day. I promise you that."

And as he dropped a kiss on the top of Regulus' head, he swore to himself that he would make sure his baby brother wasn't hurt, even if he had to sacrifice himself for it.

* * *

 _Written for:_

 _-Writing Club; Showtime; Days Of The Month; Count Your Buttons_

 _-Character Appreciation- Sirius Black (Older brother)_

 _\- Arithmancy, Assignment 8_

 _\- Around The World In 31 Days- Russia- Regulus Black_


	15. Defending Their Home

**This happened because I decided to wash my hair at 1 am (when I have to wake up at 6), and needed to wait for my hair to dry :") I had envisioned it to be much more happier and lighter in my head, but oh well. Enjoy!**

 **Word count: 481**

 **(8/12/17)**

It started with a mumbled, sleep-laden comment made in the dark when they had almost, _almost_ gone to sleep.

"What if we accidentally paralyze our wand hand, Padfoot?"

There were no further questions on _why_ two fifth years would ever 'accidentally paralyze their wand hand'. No 'we're just kids, Prongs' or 'What the fuck, Potter'. There was only one way to reply to that, of course.

"We use our _other_ hand, Prongs."

And so it began.

Late nights on their little nook on the Gryffindor Tower, and early mornings in the Room of Requirement. Missing dinner, _definitely_ missing History of Magic.

It was a risky game they were playing, they would no doubt be put into detentions until the end of the year if they were caught skipping classes so much, even if it was History. But it was worth it, wasn't it?

Of course, they never talked about _why_ they were doing it. Both of them knew why, it was hard not to, with the increasing number of attacks on innocents splashed across the Daily Prophet, and the sight of a student running out of the Great Hall in tears becoming alarmingly common. But they never _talked_ about it. There was no point.

They had to do something, though, didn't they? Incapacitating someone was as easy as rendering their wand hand useless. As easy as casting a Silencing charm on them. As easy as Summoning their wand from them.

It was...funny, how magic made fights easier, and yet, so much more harder. They could put down a troll in minutes but someone else could put them down just as quickly as well.

And so they worked. Oh, they worked hard, until their eyes were weighed down with dark bags and their foreheads were lined with stress and their hands cramped and bodies ached. But they never complained, never cribbed, never even _talked_ about it.

And their friends watched as they did this, their _teachers_ watched as they did it, but no one said a word about it. What could they say? The former knew why there were doing it, the latter assumed it was just another useless prank. Both reasons for not intervening, both trying to justify their inaction.

And when fifth year ended, the two dark haired boys looked at each other triumphantly.

"Hey Moony, Wormy, watch this," they had said as one.

And it was a _beautiful_ thing to watch, the way they cast without wands, without words, _with their wands in the wrong hands._ It was proof that they didn't need to stand by, that the fight didn't need to end if they were hit with something as trivial as a _Silencio._

This was necessary. They had to do this. And they did.

They had needed to do something, needed to protect themselves. Protect their home, protect their family. How else could they have done it?

* * *

 _Home Alone: Write about someone defending their home._


	16. James and Rani

**So I'm writing something after a very long time. This'll probably be my only piece for quite some time too, due to exams, until some frantic stroke of inspiration hits me and I sit all night long to put it on paper (Or well, Google Docs)**

 **I'm not sure why but I've always loved the idea of an Indian house elf, and this one in particular just stole my heart. Rani means 'queen' in Hindi, btw, and I think it's quite fitting, yes?**

 **As always, hope you like it and constructive criticism is always welcome :")**

 **(This is definitely not edited, so please ignore that)**

 **word count: 2390**

* * *

His first contact with Rani was when he was two. She had been with their family for much longer than that, of course, as most house elves tended to, but he hadn't been allowed to be with her then since he was too young and a bond formed with anyone but the parents, let alone a house elf was dangerous. And wizard babies formed bonds much more quickly than their muggle counterparts. That was why he was only limited to human contact for his first two years, and even then it was mostly just his parents.

But after that? Everything and everyone was fair game. Even though he was just two, he still remembered their first meeting. She had popped into his room, as quiet as she could be, which wasn't much considering she probably wasn't much older than 25 years herself; practically an infant in house elf years.

He had immediately woken up and before he could start wailing, Rani had popped up into his crib and that immediately quietened him. He remembered looking up at her in wonder.

She had huge tennis ball eyes, ever larger than the average house elf as he would learn later, and large lashes. Her skin was darker than anyone's he had ever seen before, and she was barely taller than he was. She was also wringing her hands together nervously, worried she had woken up her little master.

"Who you?" he had asked curiously, having never seen someone like her.

"I being Rani, little master James," she had replied immediately.

"Ra-Ra!" he had declared in a lisp, and Ra-Ra she was from that day on.

* * *

"Ra-Ra, Ra-RAAAA!" 6 year old James Potter wailed as he fell of his miniature broomstick. Before he could even finish his cry, a tiny figure materialized in front of him and Rani immediately went to heal his scraped knee. Her steady hands were a direct contrast to the panic and concern that had washed over her face.

"Is little master being okay? Is he being hurt anywhere else?" She enquired worriedly, running her little hands over his arms and legs to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"I'm okay, Ra-Ra, thank you," James assured her, gently pushing her hands away. "I'mma go again!"

"Oh, little master," Rani shook her head affectionately as she saw him trying to climb onto the broomstick with his grubby fingers, not seconds after he had just fallen off. This time, however, Rani made sure she was standing right there, watching over him with hawk eyes. She'd make sure he don't fall again, she would.

* * *

Holding his breath, a barely 10 year old James quietly tip-toed his way into the kitchen, heaving a sigh of relief when it seemed like he had successfully made the trip without waking anyone up.

Before he could take another step, however, the lights lit up all of a sudden and he was whisked off his feet and into a chair before he could so much as blink.

"Wha-?" he had barely managed to say when Rani appeared in front of him, seeming to bounce on her heels like the excitable little thing she was.

"Little master James! Little master James!" she exclaimed. "You is not allowed to be here right now."

James grinned sheepishly, running his hand through his already messy hair, "Ah you know me Ra-Ra. I just have to sneak into the kitchen before my birthday. Aren't you used to it by now?" he asked her cheekily.

Rani huffed, "Of course I is used to it, that's why I is standing guard."

James immediately pouted at that, "Oh come on, Ra-Ra! That's not fair."

It was the little house elf's turn to grin now as instead of answering, she merely clicked her fingers and a silver cloche appeared mid air in front of the young raven haired boy.

"Ooooh, what's this?" James craned his head to figure out if he could see anything from the top of the thing, but he failed.

"Why don't little master open it and see?" Rani hinted slyly.

An excited gleam entered James' hazel eyes as he immediately lifted the lid and came face to face with a delicious looking cake.

"Is this-?" he looked up at Rani hopefully who had a knowing smirk on her face.

"Little master's favorite banana hazelnut cake? Yes," she announced triumphantly.

"Oh Ra-Ra, I love you! You know I love your cakes!" James exclaimed before leaping off the chair to wrap his arms around the little elf who was at least a foot shorter than he was.

"Thank you so much," James cried, before letting her go and attacking the cake with a vigor one would not expect of him at midnight.

Rani stepped back, smiling fondly at him.

* * *

"Ah look, Prongs, it's chocolate eclairs!" 13 year old Sirius Black exclaimed one morning when he opened James' mail to find his favorite dessert, "You're not getting any of this now!"

"Hey!" James protested, "That's not fair."

"No can do, lil Prongsie," Sirius sang, dancing out of his reach, "You know how much I love Rani's baking. At least you get to eat it during the summer, I don't even get that."

James scowled but dropped the topic. He knew Rani had sent the eclairs for Sirius because he had asked her to. He wasn't about to take them from him now, but messing with him couldn't hurt could it?

Shaking his head lightly, he sat down to pen a letter to Rani, thanking her for the no doubt delicious eclairs and asking her how everything was at home.

* * *

"James."

"Little master."

"James."

"Little master."

" _James,"_ the boy in question pressed, not looking away from Rani, who was staring at him just as intensely as he was.

"I no call you _James,_ " Rani said with slight disgust coating her words. "That be _wrong._ "

"Not if I say it isn't," James stubbornly said. "I don't like it when you call me 'little master', Ra-Ra. You're my friend, hell, you're like my _sister._ Do you know how wrong _that_ is, my sister calling me 'little master'? He gagged in fake disgust to accentuate his point making her bite her lip in amusement.

Rani sighed, knowing she couldn't win this, "Fine. I be calling you Jamesy, and that be final." She wagged one stern finger at him and he smirked at his victory. She could never say no to him. He knew that.

* * *

"Jamesy?" Rani's hesitant voice carries over to him through the silence of the library. He tried to muster up a smile and turned to look at her. By the look on her face, he knew he had failed.

"Oh, little master, what be wrong?" Rani rushed over to him, falling back to the title she had mostly stopped using years ago. She still used it when she was particularly distressed or concerned, or in front of company, though. This was the former.

"I-It's nothing, Ra-Ra. You needn't have come," James said half-heartedly. Both of them knew he was lying.

Rani just shot him a stern look that reminded him quite a bit of his mother. Scary, that.

"It's just, I broke it off with Lily," he started, lips faintly twitching when the tiny house elf twitched and climbed the arm of his chair to wrap her arms around his neck.

Knowing she wouldn't ask him to elaborate on her own, he continued, "She wasn't comfortable with Sirius, at all. And I think she was a little jealous of him? She finally asked me to make a choice. There wasn't any question at all, was there? I mean, I didn't do the wrong thing, did I, Ra-Ra?" He looked imploringly at her, knowing she would never advise him wrongly.

"Of course you didn't, Jamesy," Rani said, horrified even at the thought. "That girl only like you and be there for you one year but Siri always be there for you. She not nice she made you choose."

"That's what I thought," he faintly smiled at her. He knew she would always make him feel better. Ever since he was a little kid, he couldn't remember Rani _not_ being there. Her dark skinned face always grinning at him, always a sliver of concern for him in those large eyes. She never once turned him away and she cared for him just as much as his own mother.

"What will I ever do without you, Ra-Ra?" he wrapped his own arms around her and pulled her close.

She merely smiled, not saying anything.

* * *

"SIRIUS!" James shouted when he saw the raven haired teen duelling a masked man, "DUCK!"

Without hesitating, Sirius ducked and barely missed the white light by inches. Even from where he was, James could see it actually grazing past his hair and his actually stuttered. He immediately aimed at the Death Eater who had attacked Sirius from behind and shot off a dancing charm on him. That would keep him busy long enough for someone to take care of him permanently.

They were in Hogsmeade, enjoying their day after the exams were over, when there was an attack. No one was spared; children, elderly, everyone was attacked equally viciously and all the training that Sirius and James had been doing had come into use then.

James couldn't remember how long it had been, how many people he had cursed, how many times _he'd_ been cursed, but he did remember the cutting spell that hit him inches away from his artery. The spell that sent him crashing to the ground, screaming.

He remembered the exact second he heard the familiar 'POP', even in the middle of the crazy atmosphere, the spells being shot left right and centre and the screams of victims and attackers alike.

He remembered the utter _fear_ that filled him when he saw the familiar face of Rani standing determinedly in front of him, arms raised high in front of her.

She was casting quietly under her breath and within seconds, a greyish barrier had formed between everyone else and the two of them. As soon as the shield was up, she turned to him with a sense of urgency in her eyes. The lines around her eyes didn't seem like laugh lines in that moment, it looked like she had aged fifty years since the last time he'd seen her.

"Ra-Ra, how-how did you I was here? That I was hurt?" James asked her, the sight of his beloved friend helping him think through the hurt.

"Silly Jamesy, I always know when you is hurt," Rani told him fondly, but her eyes showed a different story. Hey eyes had always been expressive and she could never hide anything. The brown orbs ran over his wounds with a sense of urgency and once she had catalogued everything accurately, she immediately started working on treating them.

Within minutes, he felt much better and far less light-headed. At the same time, he noticed Rani was looking faint and was almost swaying on her feet.

James cursed and almost hexed himself when he realized that she had been holding up a very powerful shield for several minutes while healing him at the same time and a house elf was normally not capable of doing such large amounts of strenuous magic in such short time. Her reserves were bound to be draining.

"Ra-Ra, Rani, please, let the shield down," James whispered urgently, noting that most of the fighting had slowed down. "It's..It's hurting you, Ra-Ra, please."

Rani smiled tiredly, her white teeth shining against her skin. Slowly, she dropped the shield and almost as if it had been holding her up the absence of it sent her to her knees.

James immediately reacted and held her before she could fall. But in doing so, he didn't see the green let of light that was headed towards them.

He didn't see it until it hit Rani, until it was too late.

But she had seen it, she knew what was coming and he saw in her eyes she had accepted him.

"Yoube the best little master, Jamesy," she barely managed to get out before the killing curse struck her, draining the life out of her in front of his very eyes.

James didn't comprehend what had happened at first, not until a dead silence had fallen around him. When he did, he let out a cry of anguish, of despair, of pain.

His first ever friend had died and he could do nothing about it. It was _his_ fault she was even here in the first place.

Tears slowly leaked out of his eyes as he looked at the still body of Rani, her lips in a content smile and both her hands wrapped around one of James'.

* * *

He had insisted, demanded she be buried in the Potter family cemetery. There was no other place worthy of Rani's body, and he would make sure she would lie with the family she had loved and treated like her own.

No one fought him on it either, knowing they wouldn't win. They quietly stayed back while he did everything, his eyes rimmed red and his lip quivering. He couldn't quite stop the sobs that raked through his body when she was lowered into the ground, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that.

When everyone was gone, James stayed back.

He took the single black rose he had plucked earlier and placed it at Rani's headstone. It had always been her favorite flower.

" _Most people think it goes against the basic laws of nature to have something as pure as a rose and black, something synonymous with black," James had teased her one day, when she greeted him with a black rose in her hair._

" _Most people be idiots, Jamesy," she had retorted._

The memory brought a smile to James' lips, igniting something in his tired face. It had taken her a while to be so comfortable around him as to speak her mind, but once she was, there was no going back.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he stared at the freshly dug ground.

"You'll always be missed, Ra-Ra," James whispered. Wiping the sole tear that had fallen from his eye, he quickly turned around and walked back to the house, lest he break down again.

* * *

 _Written for-_

 _-Assignment 3, Mythology, Artemis; Write about an animal or creature._

 _\- Crazy House challenge, 365 prompts challenge; (creature) house elf_

 _\- Serpent day, Blond Hognose Snake; (word) whisper._

 _\- Fanfic resolutions; Set in Marauder Era_


	17. Water Balloons

**So, today's Holi, and I'm not playing so I thought I'd do this. Even though it makes absolutely no sense, but hey, it's something *shrugs***

 **And yes, in India, we randomly throw water balloons at strangers from our balconies/terrace/houses/streets. 'Tis the fun.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Word count: 593 words**

 **(2/3/18)**

* * *

"Er, Padfoot, don't you think you're being a little ambitious there?" James asked pointedly, looking at his best friend, who was currently sporting a lecherous grin worthy of his animagus form.

He also had a fistful of brightly wrapped condoms in his hand. Taken out of a complimentary bowl in a muggle public restroom.

The two dark haired boys had decided to venture out into the muggle world one fine day, being bored out of their wits during the Summer break. During their exploration, they turned into one of the shadier allies of the city, and found, much to Sirius' delight, that almost every public restroom had complimentary condom bowls. Or, dis-pen-ser as it was called.

Sirius' glee at making such a discovery still hadn't lessened after an hour.

In the present, however, said boy turned to look at James, an innocent look on his face, "What're you talking about, mate? I'm not being ambitious at all."

"Yeah, I don't think you're gonna need uh 20 separate condoms for one nights, Pads," James deadpanned.

"Au contraire," Sirius grinned, "I think that's exactly what I need."

"I think I'm gonna stay far away from this situation, yes?" James slowly started inching away from his creepily smiling buddy, "I'll just be home, sipping on some hot chocolate while you...do your thing."

Sirius smirked.

* * *

When James told Sirius that he was gonna home, he'd only said 'like hell you are' and surprised him with a Side-Along Apparition. When he had gotten his bearings, and felt like he wasn't going to throw up, he realized that they were on a terrace.

Well if you could call a space small enough to barely sleep on, from where you could see the sky, a terrace.

"Why'd you bring me here, Pads?" James had scowled at him.

"Just you wait, young Prongs, just you wait."

And with that, Sirius had taken out his wand, stretched a single condom between his index finger and thumb, and muttered ' _Aguamenti'_. James could only watch, with his mouth slightly open, as a very gentle stream of water started flowing into the outstretched latex, filling it nice and big until he was left with a decent sized water balloon (water condom?) resting in his palm.

"Ready to attack some unsuspecting poor sods?" A wicked grin lit up Sirius' handsome face as he placed the filled condoms in a conjured container and started filling more.

"You-I-Wh-?" James could only stutter in disbelief. This was definitely what he did not expect when Sirius swiped a handful of condoms.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you forgot!" his best mate's eyes turned to him, widened in disbelief. When he still remained clueless, he continued, "Remember Rani told us about Holi? That festival where everyone throws colors and water at each other? Ring a bell?"

Realization dawned on James' face at those words and his mouth formed an 'O' shape," Oooooooh, yeah, I do I do. She talked about how people throw water balloons at random people on the street. Is that what you're trying to recreate here?"

"Nuh uh," Sirius waggled a finger in his face, "That's what _we're_ trying to recreate here."

Before James could even shoot him an exasperated look, Sirius said smugly, "Bet you're happy I dragged you along now, eh?"

James grumbled under his breath, but couldn't stop his lips from twitching. After all, he couldn't deny that.

* * *

 _\- Insane House Challenge: 567) Plot Point -Grabbing a handful of condoms from a complimentary bowl_

 _\- 365 prompts: (Genre) Humor_

 _\- Character Appreciation: (Character): Sirius Black_

 _\- Disney Challenge-_ Flounder : _Write about a supportive friend. (disney challenge)_

 _\- Smart and Sexy Day - Write about Sirius Black_

 _\- Restriction: Write a story that does not contain any characters that attended Hogwarts whilst Harry was there (including Professors)._

 _\- 40 Days Challenge: Only Male Characters_


End file.
